Techniques for dynamic configuration generation

ABSTRACT

A configuration helper system (CHS) is described that simplifies the task of generating configuration information for a customer premises equipment (CPE) in a customer&#39;s on-premise network to enable the CPE to communicate with the customer&#39;s cloud network over a particular communication channel. The CHS is configured to generate configuration information that is customized for the particular CPE and communication channel. Given information about the CPE and the communication channel, the CHS automatically identifies a particular set of configuration parameters to be included in the customized configuration information and determines values for the set of parameters, where some of the values may be provided by the customer. A particular CPE-specific format is determined for the configuration information. Customized configuration information for the CPE is then generated in the determined format, where the generated configuration information includes the set of parameters and their values, and potentially other CPE-specific information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.17/107,422, filed Nov. 30, 2020, entitled “TECHNIQUES FOR DYNAMICCONFIGURATION GENERATION,” the disclosure of which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The demand for cloud-based services continues to increase rapidly. Theterm cloud service is generally used to refer to a service that is madeavailable by a cloud services provider to users or customers on demand(e.g., via a subscription model) using systems and infrastructure (cloudinfrastructure) provided by the cloud services provider. Typically, theservers and systems that make up the cloud service provider'sinfrastructure are separate from the customer's own on-premise serversand systems. Customers can thus avail themselves of cloud servicesprovided by a cloud service provider without having to purchase separatehardware and software resources for the services. There are variousdifferent types or models of cloud services includingSoftware-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS),Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and others.

In an IaaS model, the cloud services provider provides infrastructureresources (e.g., compute resources, memory resources, networkingresources, such as servers, storage devices, etc.) that can be used bycustomers to build their own resources and virtual networks. Theinfrastructure provided by the IaaS cloud service provider comprisinginterconnected high-performance computer, memory, and network resourcesor components forms a physical network (also referred to as a substratenetwork or underlay network). The physical network provides theunderlying basis for creating customers' virtual networks (also referredto as overlay networks) on top of the physical network. The cloudservice provider generally provides a wide range of applications,services, and APIs that enable customers (e.g., enterprises) toefficiently build these virtual networks, and deploy and manage variousvirtual workloads (e.g., virtual machines, containers, applications) inthese virtual networks in a highly available distributed environment.Customers can generally manage their cloud-based workloads in the sameway they manage their on-premises workloads and get all benefits of thehigh-performance computing and network capabilities with the samecontrol, isolation, security, and predictable performance as theiron-premises network. The high-level APIs provided by the IaaS cloudservices provider are used to dereference various low-level details ofunderlying network infrastructure like physical computing, resources,location, data partitioning, scaling, security, backup and so on.

Customers generally have one or more customer on-premise networks andone or more virtual networks deployed in the cloud using infrastructureprovided by the cloud service provider. Various different communicationmechanisms may be provided that enable a customer's on-premise networkto communicate with the customer's virtual cloud network. In order toset up such communications, devices or equipment in the customer'son-premise network have to be configured properly to be able toparticipate in these communications. For example, the customer premisesequipment (CPE) that is to be one end point of the communication channelbetween the customer's on-premise network and the customer's cloudnetwork needs to be properly configured. However, this configuration canbe quite complex and time consuming. Many times, the user, such as asystem administrator or network engineer, on the customer's side doesnot have sufficient knowledge or training to configure the CPEsproperly. This is because the configuration requires configurationinformation that is not only specific to the customer and the CPE, butalso configuration information that is specific to the cloud provider.The problem is further aggravated because the CPEs can be from differentvendors. These various vendors could provide different CPE platforms.Further, there could be different versions of platforms, each with theirown unique configuration requirements. Configuring a CPE in a customer'son-premise network is thus a non-trivial task and the effects of anincorrect configuration can be very detrimental to the customer.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present disclosure describes techniques for configuring devices.More particularly, techniques are described for simplifying the task ofgenerating configuration information for a customer premises equipment(CPE) in a customer's on-premise network to enable the CPE tocommunicate with the customer's cloud network. Techniques are provided(e.g., a method, a system, non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring code or instructions executable by one or more processors) forenabling automatic generation of configuration information (e.g., in theform of a configuration file) that can be easily applied to thecustomer's CPE to enable the CPE to establish a connection andcommunicate with the customer's network in the cloud . Various aspectsare described herein, including methods, systems, non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media storing programs, code, or instructionsexecutable by one or more processors, and the like.

In one example, a configuration helper system (CHS) is provided thatsimplifies the task of generating configuration information for acustomer premises equipment (CPE) in a customer's on-premise network toenable the CPE to communicate with the customer's cloud network over aparticular communication channel. The CHS is configured to generateconfiguration information that is customized for the particular CPE andcommunication channel. Given information about the CPE and thecommunication channel, the CHS automatically identifies a particular setof configuration parameters to be included in the customizedconfiguration information and determines values for the set ofparameters, where some of the values may be provided by the customer. Aparticular CPE-specific format is determined for the configurationinformation. Customized configuration information for the CPE is thengenerated in the determined format, where the generated configurationinformation includes the set of parameters and their values, andpotentially other CPE-specific information.

In certain embodiments, responsive to a request to generateconfiguration information for a customer premise equipment (CPE) locatedin an on-premise network to enable establishment of a communicationchannel between the CPE and a network hosted by infrastructure providedby a cloud services provider, a configuration helper system (CHS)identifies, based upon information included in the request identifyingthe CPE, a set of parameters to be included in the configurationinformation to be generated for the CPE. A set of values are determinedfor the set of parameters. In certain embodiments, as part ofdetermining the set of values, the CHS performs processing includingidentifying a subset of parameters from the set of parameters;communicating, to a first system, information identifying the subset ofparameters; and receiving, from the first system, a set of one or morevalues for one or more parameters in the subset of parameters. The CHSdetermines a format specific to the CPE. The CHS then generates theconfiguration information for the CPE in the format specific to the CPE,where the generated configuration information comprises informationincluding the set of parameters and the set of values determined for theset of parameters.

In certain embodiments, the CHS may communicate the generatedconfiguration information to the first system. In other embodiments, theconfiguration information may be communicated to an on-premise networkwhere the configuration information may be applied to the CPE.

In some embodiments, the CHS may determine additional information to beincluded in the configuration information to be generated for the CPE,wherein the additional information includes one or more commands to beexecuted at the CPE. In such an embodiment, the configurationinformation that is generated comprises the additional information. Theadditional information may also include help information andexplanations related to the configuration information, to help anadministrator of the CPE.

In certain embodiments, the CHS may determine a first value for a firstparameter in the subset of parameters, and communicate the determinedfirst value to the first system. The first value may be determined usingvarious different techniques. For example, according to one technique,the CHS may determine first value from preferences information for acustomer, where the on-premise network is a network of that customer.According to another technique, the CHS may determine the first valuebased upon one or more prior values set for the first parameter. In someembodiments, the CHS may receive a second value for the first parameterfrom the first system, where the second value is different from thefirst value. When the CHS generates the configuration information forthe CPE, the configuration information includes the second value for thefirst parameter instead of the first value.

In certain embodiments, the information received by the CHS in therequest to generate configuration information for the CPE includesinformation identifying the communication channel, and informationidentifying the CPE, where the information identifying the CPE mayinclude at least one of information identifying a vendor of the CPE,information identifying a version of the CPE, or information identifyinga platform of the CPE. The CHS then identifies the set of parameters tobe included in the configuration information to be generated for the CPEbased upon the information identifying the communication channel andinformation identifying the CPE.

The foregoing, together with other features and aspects will become moreapparent upon referring to the following specification, claims, andaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a distributed environment including a configurationhelper system (CHS) that is configured to facilitate generation ofconfiguration information for configuring a customer premise equipment(CPE) according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts an example of a connection that may be establishedbetween a customer's on-premise CPE and a customer's virtual cloudnetwork (VCN) that is hosted in the cloud using CSP infrastructureaccording to certain embodiments.

FIGS. 3 and 4 depict a simplified flow diagram illustrating an exampleprocess for generating and providing configuration information for a CPEaccording to certain embodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts an example GUI that enables a user to input informationfor a CPE for which configuration information is to be generated,according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 6 provides an example of a GUI for selecting a type ofcommunication channel to be established between a CPE and a customer'sVCN, according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 7 depicts an example GUI that may be presented to the user by theconsole showing configuration parameters for which customer input isrequested and via which the customer can provide values for theparameters, according to certain embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating one pattern for implementing acloud infrastructure as a service system, according to at least oneembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating another pattern for implementinga cloud infrastructure as a service system, according to at least oneembodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating another pattern for implementinga cloud infrastructure as a service system, according to at least oneembodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating another pattern for implementinga cloud infrastructure as a service system, according to at least oneembodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer system,according to at least one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofcertain aspects. However, it will be apparent that various aspects maybe practiced without these specific details. The figures and descriptionare not intended to be restrictive. The word “exemplary” is used hereinto mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspector design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.

The present disclosure describes techniques for configuring devices.More particularly, techniques are described for simplifying the task ofgenerating configuration information for a customer premises equipment(CPE) in a customer's on-premise network to enable the CPE tocommunicate with the customer's cloud network. A configuration helpersystem (CHS) is disclosed that is configured to generate configurationinformation that is customized for a particular CPE. Given informationidentifying the particular CPE and the particular communication channelto be established between a customer on-premise network and a customernetwork hosted in the cloud, the CHS is capable of identifying theparticular set of configuration parameters that are to be included inthe configuration information for the particular CPE, determining thevalues for the set of parameters, determining any additional informationto be included in the configuration information, determining a formatfor the configuration information, and then generating the configurationinformation for the particular CPE. The generated configurationinformation can then be communicated to the customer so that thecustomer can apply the configuration information to the CPE. In certainembodiments, the generated information may be communicated to thecustomer on-premise network. In yet other embodiments, as permitted bythe customer, the generated configuration information may be applied tothe CPE.

FIG. 1 depicts a distributed environment 100 including a configurationhelper system (CHS) that is configured to facilitate generation ofconfiguration information for configuring a customer premise equipment(CPE) according to certain embodiments. Distributed environment 100 maycomprise multiple systems communicatively coupled to each other via oneor more communication networks 104. For example, the embodiment in FIG.1 depicts various systems and networks including a customer on-premisenetwork 106, a console 102, a configuration helper system (CHS) 112, andcloud service provider infrastructure (CSPI) 120. These various systemsand networks may be communicatively coupled with each other viacommunication network 104. The distributed environment 100 depicted inFIG. 1 is merely an example and is not intended to unduly limit thescope of claimed embodiments. Many variations, alternatives, andmodifications are possible. For example, in some implementations, thedistributed environment 100 may have more or fewer systems or componentsthan those shown in FIG. 1 , may combine two or more systems, or mayhave a different configuration or arrangement of systems. The systems,subsystems, and other components depicted in FIG. 1 may be implementedin software (e.g., code, instructions, program) executed by one or moreprocessing units (e.g., processors, cores) of the respective systems,using hardware, or combinations thereof. The software may be stored on anon-transitory storage medium (e.g., on a memory device).

Communication network 104 facilitates communications between the varioussystems and networks depicted in FIG. 1 . The communication network 104can be of various types and can include one or more communicationnetworks. Examples of communication network 104 include, withoutrestriction, a public network such as the Internet, a wide area network(WAN), a local area network (LAN), an Ethernet network, a public orprivate network, a wired network, a wireless network, and the like, andcombinations thereof. Different communication protocols may be used tofacilitate the communications including both wired and wirelessprotocols such as IEEE 802.XX suite of protocols, TCP/IP, IPX, SAN,AppleTalk®, Bluetooth®, and other protocols. In general, communicationnetwork 104 may include any infrastructure that facilitatescommunications between the various systems depicted in FIG. 1 .

As shown in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 , the distributedenvironment 100 includes cloud services provider infrastructure (CSPI)120 that is provided by a cloud service provider (CSP) and used toprovide one or more cloud services. A customer can subscribe to one ormore of these cloud services provided by the CSP using CSPI 120. Acustomer is any entity that subscribes to a cloud service provided bythe CSP. A customer can subscribe to one or more cloud servicesincluding services of different types including SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, andother types of cloud services. When a customer subscribes to orregisters for a service provided by a CSP, a tenancy or an account iscreated for that customer. The customer has access to this account andcan use it to access cloud resources associated with the account.

In certain embodiments, a CSP may provide services under an IaaS model,wherein the CSP provides infrastructure, such as CSPI 120, that can beused by customers to build their own networks and deploy customerresources. In such embodiments, CSPI 120 may include interconnectedhigh-performance compute resources including various host machines,memory resources, and network resources that form a physical network,which is referred to as a substrate network or an underlay network. CSPI120 can include one or more computing systems. The resources in CSPI 120may be spread across one or more data centers that may be geographicallyspread across one or more regions. The physical network provides theunderlying basis for creating one or more virtual or overlay networks ontop of the physical network. These virtual or overlay networks (alsoreferred to as software-based or -defined networks) are implementedusing software virtualization technologies to create layers of networkabstraction that can be run on top of the physical network. Overlaynetworks can take on many forms. Overlay networks typically use Layer-3IP addressing with endpoints designated by their virtual IP addresses.This method of overlay networking is often referred to as virtual Layer3 networking. When a customer subscribes to or registers for an IaaSservice provided by a CSP, the tenancy created for that customer is asecure and isolated partition within CSPI 120 where the customer cancreate, organize, and administer their cloud resources.

A customer can build networks using resources provided by CSPI 120. Oneor more customer resources, such as compute instances, can be deployedon these networks. For example, a customer can use resources provided byCSPI 120 to build one or multiple customizable and private networks,referred to as virtual cloud networks or VCNs. For example, as depictedin FIG. 1 , a customer has configured a customer VCN 122 using resourcesprovided by CSPI 120. A customer can deploy one or more customerresources, such as compute instances, on these customer VCNs. Computeinstances can take the form of virtual machines, containers, bare metalinstances, and the like. CSPI 120 thus provides infrastructure and a setof complementary cloud services that enable customers to build and run awide range of applications and services in a highly available hostedenvironment. The customer does not typically manage or control theunderlying physical resources provided by CSPI 120, but has control overoperating systems, storage, and deployed applications; and possiblylimited control of select networking components (e.g., firewalls).

As depicted in FIG. 1 , the CSP may provide a console 102 that enablescustomers and network administrators to configure, access, and manageresources deployed in the cloud using CSPI 120. In certain embodiments,console 102 is an application that is executed by a computer system.Console 102 provides an interface (e.g., a web-based user interface, acommand line interface (CLI), etc.) that can be used to access andmanage resources hosted by CSPI 120. As described below in furtherdetail, a user can use console 102 to select and provide informationregarding a CPE for which configuration information is to be generated.This information is then provided to CHS 112, which is configured togenerate the configuration information. Console 102 may present one ormore graphical user interfaces to the user to output information to theuser and also to receive information from the user. For example, UIs maybe displayed that allow the user to select a CPE to be configured, toprovide information regarding certain configuration parameters to beincluded in the configuration information, and the like. For a userusing console 102, the console may first authenticate the user based onaccess controls associated with the customer's account with the CSP andenable the user to log in only upon successful authentication.

As depicted in FIG. 1 , distributed environment 100 includes a customeron-premise network 106. Customer on-premise network 106 is a network ofone or more customer resources, such as one or more customer datacenters. Access to customer on-premise network 106 is generally veryrestricted. For a customer that has both a customer on-premise network106 and one or more VCNs deployed or hosted in the cloud by CSPI 120,the customer generally wants their on-premise network 106 and theircloud-based VCN networks such as customer VCN 122 to be able tocommunicate with each other. This enables a customer to build anextended hybrid environment encompassing the customer's VCN hosted byCSPI 120 and their on-premises network 106.

In order to enable communications between customer on-premise network106 and customer VCN 122, a communication channel 124 is set up, whereone endpoint for communication channel 124 is in customer on-premisenetwork 106 and the other endpoint is in CSPI 120. Communication channel124 can traverse one or more communication networks 104, which mayinclude a public network such as the Internet. Various differentcommunication protocols may be used to facilitate communications betweenthe on-premise network 106 and customer VCN 122 using communicationchannel 124 such as FastConnect, a virtual private network (VPN) (e.g.,Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) VPN), and others.

The device or equipment in the customer on-premise network 106 thatforms one end point for communication channel 124 is referred to as thecustomer premise equipment (CPE), such as CPE 110 depicted in FIG. 1 .CPE 110 has to be properly configured, using configuration information108, to enable the setup of communication channel 124 and to enablecommunications between customer on-premise network 106 and customer VCN122 using the communication channel. However, as indicated in thebackground section, determining the correct configuration information108 for CPE 110 can be quite complicated. The configuration information108 can comprise a large set of parameters for which appropriate valueshave to be set. Knowledge of the values to be set for theseconfiguration parameters may not be known to any single entity; theknowledge may be split between system administrators or networkengineers of customer on-premise network 106 and system administratorsor network engineers of CSPI 120, who may be completely differentpeople. The customer has to spend a lot of time and effort inidentifying the various parameters to be included in the configurationinformation and determining the values for the parameters. Further, theparticular configuration information 108 to be applied to CPE 110 candepend upon various other factors such as the particular CPE devicebeing used, characteristics of the communication channel beingestablished (e.g., type of channel, protocol to be used for thecommunications, etc.), the CSPI equipment that forms the other end pointof the communication channel, and other criteria. The problem is furtheraggravated because of the variety and different types of CPEs that areavailable. These CPEs can be from different vendors, can have differentCPE platforms, have different versions, and the like. Each permutationand combination of the vendor, platform, and version, may require itsown customized configuration information. Due to these complexities, itis very easy for errors to be made when configuring the CPE. Theseerrors may result from the configuration information for a CPE nothaving all the requisite configuration parameters, not having thecorrect values set for the configuration parameters, and combinationsthereof. This results in errors in setting up the communication channel,and/or the communication channel not functioning as intended.

According to certain embodiments, the task of generating theconfiguration information that is customized for a CPE 110 is automatedand thus simplified by the configuration helper system (CHS) 112. Giveninformation identifying the particular CPE and the particularcommunication channel to be established between customer on-premisenetwork 106 and customer VCN 122, CHS 112 is capable of identifying theparticular set of configuration parameters that are to be included inthe configuration information for the particular CPE, gathering and/oracquiring the requisite information needed for the configurationinformation, and then automatically generating the configurationinformation 116 in a format that is compatible with the particular CPEto be configured. In certain embodiments, the configuration informationcan be applied to CPE 110 such that a customer-desired communicationchannel 124 can be set up between CPE 110 and the customer's VCN 122that is hosted in the cloud by CSPI 120. The configuration information108 generated by CHS 112 may be in various formats. In certainembodiments, the configuration information is in a format that iscompatible with and can be applied to CPE 110. For example,configuration information 116 may be in the form of one or moreconfiguration files that can be applied to the CPE for which theconfiguration information has been generated.

The configuration information 116 generated by CHS 112 can be used indifferent ways. In certain instances, as shown by dotted line 130 inFIG. 1 , the configuration information 116 generated by CHS 112 may becommunicated to console 102 and provided/output to the user of console102 that requested the configuration information. The user can then usethis information to configure CPE 110. In yet other instances, as shownby dotted line 132 in FIG. 1 , the configuration information 116 may becommunicated to the customer on-premise network 106 and stored asconfiguration information 108 that is applied to CPE 110. In yet otherinstances, as shown by dotted line 134 in FIG. 1 , the configurationinformation 116 may be applied to CPE 110.

In certain embodiments, CHS 112 is provided as a tool or as a service bythe CSP. While in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 , CHS 112 is shownas separate from CSPI 120, in other embodiments, CHS 112 may be includedin CSPI 120 and may be provided using resources of CSPI 120. CHS 112 hasaccess to information related to resources (e.g., compute, memory, andnetworking resources) within CSPI 120, including access to informationabout the device or equipment endpoint of the communication channel 124within CSPI 120. Processing performed by CHS 112 for generating theconfiguration information for a CPE is described below with respect tothe flowcharts depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4 .

FIG. 2 depicts an example of a connection that may be establishedbetween a customer's on-premise CPE and a customer's virtual cloudnetwork (VCN) that is hosted in the cloud using CSP infrastructureaccording to certain embodiments. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2 ,in the customer on-premise network 222, the CPE is an on-premise router202. The on-premise router 202 shown in FIG. 2 comprises twocommunication interfaces or ports. These interfaces include an insideinterface 208 connected to one or more other devices or networks in thecustomer's on-premise network, and an outside interface 210 that isconfigured to establish a connection with the customer's VCN that ishosted by CSPI 220.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2 , two separate communicationconnections (tunnel #1 211 and tunnel #2 214) are set up between CPE 202and headends #1 216 and #2 218 in CSPI 220, respectively. Thisredundancy of headends and associated channels is provided to providehigh availability. Configuration information for CPE 202 that isgenerated by CHS 112 enables setting up of such redundant channels usingthe teachings described in this disclosure. In certain embodiments,redundant CPEs may also be provided in customer's on-premise network 222to provide high availability. Configuration information for configuringsuch redundant CPEs may be generated by CHS 112 using the teachingsdescribed in this disclosure.

The communication channels depicted in FIG. 2 can be of different types.For example, each of tunnels 212 and 214 depicted in FIG. 2 may beconfigured to be Internet Protocol Security Virtual Private Network(IPSec VPN). An IPSec VPN connection uses a secure network protocolsuite that authenticates and encrypts the packets of data that arecommunicated between two endpoints between which the connection is setup to provide secure encrypted communication between the two endpoints.In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2 , two IPSec VPNs 212 and 214 areset up, between CPE 202 and headends 216 and 218, respectively. The VPNstraverse a communication network 206, which could be a publiccommunication network such as the Internet.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2 , on the CSPI side, thecommunication channels are enabled using a Dynamic Routing Gateway (DRG)204. In certain embodiments, a DRG is a gateway that can be added to orassociated with a customer's VCN that is hosted by CSPI 220. The DRG 204provides a path for private network traffic communication between acustomer's VCN and the customer's on-premise network. For example, usingDRG 204, the customer's VCN can establish a private connection with CPErouter 202 in the customer's on-premises network 222. The DRG 204 may beconfigured to route communications (e.g., packets) received from thecustomer VCN to an appropriate entity (e.g., a compute instance) withinthe customer's on-premise network 222. IPSec VPN is just one example ofcommunication technologies that can be used for communicating between aCPE in a customer's on-premise network and the customer's cloud-hostedVCN. Various other communication technologies may be used in alternativeembodiments.

In certain embodiments, the configuration information (e.g.,configuration information 108 in FIG. 1 ) generated by CHS 112 comprisesa set of one or more parameters, and for each parameter, a valueassociated with the parameter. For example, for a particular CPE andcommunication channel, the configuration information may includeparameters and associated values (only partial list shown) such as shownin Table 1 below.

TABLE A Examples of configuration information parameters and associatedvalues Configuration Parameter Associated Value Vendor Vendor_A PlatformSRX Version 17.1R8 CPE IP address 1.2.3.4 CSP headend IP 128.2.1.2Preshared key Myawesomepresharedkey BGP IP 10.0.0.1/30 Customer BGP IP10.0.0.2/30 CSP BGP ASN 54322 Customer BGP ASN 12345 Customer outsidepublic interface Et-0/1 name Customer security list name mySecurityListCustomer on-premise subnet NOT SPECIFIEDAccordingly, the configuration information may comprise a set ofkey-value pairs, where a key identifies a parameter and the associatedvalue identifies a parameter associated with the key.

In certain embodiments, the configuration information generated by CHS112 may also include commands (e.g., command line interface commands(CLIs)) for applying the configuration information to a CPE, helpinformation to guide the customer, and other information. An example ofconfiguration information that may be generated by CHA 112 is providedbelow after the description for FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 .

FIGS. 3 and 4 depict a simplified flow diagram 300 illustrating anexample process for generating and providing configuration informationfor a CPE according to certain embodiments. The processing depicted inFIGS. 3 and 4 may be implemented in software (e.g., code, instructions,program) executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors,cores) of the respective systems, using hardware, or combinationsthereof. The software may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium(e.g., on a memory device). The method presented in FIGS. 3 and 4 anddescribed below is intended to be illustrative and non-limiting.Although FIGS. 3 and 4 depict the various processing operationsoccurring in a particular sequence or order, this is not intended to belimiting. In certain alternative embodiments, the processing may beperformed in some different order or some operations may also beperformed in parallel. In certain embodiments, such as in the embodimentdepicted in FIG. 1 , certain operations in the processing depicted inFIGS. 3 and 4 are performed at console 102 and certain operations areperformed by CHS 112.

Process 300 may begin, at block 302, when a user accesses a console(e.g., console 102 in FIG. 1 ) and selects or identifies a particularCPE for which configuration information is to be generated. The user maybe a representative of the CSP, such as a system administrator ornetwork engineer of the CSP. In some other scenarios, the user could bea representative of a customer whose CPE is to be configured. Aspreviously described, the console may be GUI-based applications and maypresent various GUIs that output information to the user and also allowthe user to input information. Examples of GUIs displayed by a console,such as console 102, in relation to the processing depicted in FIGS. 3and 4 are depicted in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 , and described below.

As part of 302, the user selects or identifies a particular CPE (e.g.,CPE 110 in FIG. 1 or CPE 202 in FIG. 2 ) for which configurationinformation is to be generated. In certain embodiments, the console 102may display a list of available CPEs available at a particularcustomer's on-premise network 106 and allow the user to select aparticular CPE to be configured. In other embodiments, the console maydisplay a GUI that allows the user to enter information identifying theparticular CPE for which configuration information is to be generated.Various different pieces of information may be used to identify theparticular CPE. For example, a CPE may be identified using one or moreof: information identifying a vendor providing the CPE, informationidentifying a platform for the CPE, and version information for the CPE.In certain examples, the version information may identify a version ofthe software and/or hardware of the CPE. The user may provide thisinformation to identify a specific CPE. Examples of CPEs includerouters, bridges, firewall devices, cable modems, DSL modems, or anothercomputer system in the customer's on-premise network that acts as theendpoint for the communication channel between the customer on-premisenetwork and the customer's VCN hosted by CSPI.

There are various different vendors that provide CPEs. A single vendormay provide multiple platforms. The platforms, in turn, may havedifferent versions corresponding to different hardware and/or softwareconfigurations.

FIG. 5 depicts an example GUI 502 that enables a user to inputinformation for a CPE for which configuration information is to begenerated, according to certain embodiments. As shown, GUI 502 includesa number of text input fields 504(a), 504(b), and 504(c), collectively“text input fields 504”, in which the user may enter information relatedto the CPE. For example, the user can enter a name (or identifier) forthe CPE in text field 504(a). In the example depicted in FIG. 5 , theuser has entered a CIDR address “129.213.221.242” for the CPE in field504(a). Text field 504(b) provides a field in which the user can enterinformation identifying a vendor of the CPE. In the example depicted inFIG. 5 , the user has entered “Company A” as the vendor in field 504(b).Text field 504(c) provides a field in which the user can enterinformation identifying a platform and a version of the CPE. In theexample depicted in FIG. 5 , the user has entered “ASA Policy-Based VPN”for platform and “8.5+” for version in field 504(c). In some otherembodiments, the text fields 504 may include drop-down menus, or othertools that enable selection of values for the fields. In various otherembodiments, other information related to the CPE may be provided, inaddition to vendor, platform, and version information.

Each combination of information identifying a CPE identifies aparticular CPE. The greater the specificity of the provided information,the more specific the identified CPE. For example, providing the vendorinformation, platform information, version information, and potentiallyother information, identifies the CPE with greater specificity. Incertain embodiments, greater specificity translates to bettercustomization of the configuration information that is generated by CHS112 for that CPE. This is because the configuration information for aCPE with a certain combination of (vendor, platform, version) values maybe different from configuration information for a CPE with a differentcombination. In certain embodiments, the combination of vendorinformation and platform information may together identify a particulardevice and the version may identify the version of the device. Even forthe same vendor and same platform, the configuration information for twodifferent versions of the CPE may be different.

Once each of the appropriate text input fields 504 has been populatedwith information specific to the CPE for which configuration informationis to be generated, the user may then select a submission element 506(e.g., button 506) to submit the entered values. In some embodiment,upon selection of the submission element 506, the data values enteredinto the text input fields 504 are transmitted to CHS 112. In otheraspects, cancel element 510 may be selected to return the data values toa default state without the values being submitted to CHS 112.

Returning to FIG. 3 , at block 304, the user, using console 102, selectsa type of communication channel that is to be established between theCPE 110 and the customer VCN 122 and for which configuration informationis to be generated. In certain embodiments, different types ofcommunication channels may be established between a CPE in the customeron-premise network and the customer's VCN hosted by CSPI 120. Theconfiguration information for the CPE may be dependent upon theparticular communication channel that is selected in 306. Examples ofcommunication channel types include a IPSec VPN, a FastConnect channel(e.g., Ethernet peering), satellite communication peering and others.

FIG. 6 provides an example of a GUI 602 for selecting a type ofcommunication channel to be established between a CPE and a customer'sVCN, according to certain embodiments. As shown in FIG. 6 , GUI 602includes a number of text input fields 604(a), 604(b), and 604(c),collectively “text input fields 604”, each associated with a parameterrelated to the type of communication to be established. In theembodiment depicted in FIG. 6 , GUI 602 is depicted with reference to anIPSec type of communication channel. This however is not intended to belimiting or restrictive in any manner. Other different types ofcommunication channels may be available for selection in otherinstances, each with their own set of parameters and associated values.

In GUI 602 depicted in FIG. 6 , the user is presented with and can enterinformation in text input fields 604(a), 604(b), and 604(c) to identifythe type of communication channel. The user can populate the text inputfields 604(a) with information specific to the type of communicationchannel selected. Information specifying a name to be given to thecommunication channel can be entered in text field 604(a). A status ofthe connection (e.g., up, down, unavailable, provisioning, etc.) may beprovided in text field 604(b). A VPN IP address may be entered in textfield 604(c). In some embodiments, drop-down menus may be provided thatallow the user to select values for the different fields from a list ofvalues. After all the appropriate values characterizing thecommunication channel to be established have been entered in the variousfields of GUI 602, the user may select submission element 606 (e.g.,button 606) to submit the parameters and the entered values to CHS 112.In other aspects, cancel element 610 may be selected to return the datavalues to a default state without the value being submitted to CHS 112.

Returning back to FIG. 3 , at block 306, information received in 302identifying the CPE and information received in 306 identifying the typeof communication channel to be established between the CPE and thecustomer's VCN (i.e., information provided in blocks 304 and 306) iscommunicated to from the console to CHS 112. The information may becommunicated as a request from the console system 102 to CHS 112 for theCHS 112 to generate configuration information for CPE 110 for enablingsetting up of the communication channel between the CPE 110 and anendpoint in CSPI 120 (e.g., between the CPE and the customer' VCN 122hosted by CSPI 120). In certain embodiments, the information iscommunicated in encrypted form. For example, the console creates anencrypted file containing the information, and then transfers theencrypted file to CHS 112.

At block 308, CHS 112 identifies a set of parameters to be included inthe configuration information that is to be generated for the CPEidentified in 302 and for the communication channel identified in 304.In certain embodiments, the set of parameters identified in 308 are alsodependent upon the device or equipment that forms the endpoint of thecommunication channel on the CSPI side. The set of parameters identifiedin 308 represent parameters for which values need to be set in order toproperly set up the communication channel between the CPE and thecustomer VCN and to ensure proper communications using the channel.Since CHS 112 can be provided by the CSP providing CSPI 120, CHS 112 hasaccess to information identifying the equipment that forms the endpointof the communication channel on the CSPI side. For example, if an IPSecVPN communication channel is to be set up, the CHS 112 may identify aset of parameters (depicted in FIG. 5 as 508) for which data values areto be configured for setting up and activating the IPSec VPN channel.

There are various ways in which the CHS 112 can identify the set ofparameters in 308. In certain embodiments, the CHS 112 has access toinformation storing a parameter set for each of the various CPE devices.For example, as depicted in FIG. 1 , the CHS 112 has access toCPE-specific information sets 114, which may comprise, for eachvariation of a CPE, the set of parameters to be included in theconfiguration information for that CPE for the particular communicationchannel. Information 114 may be stored in a persistent stores such as ina database accessible to the CHS 112. In certain embodiments, theinformation may be curated by representatives of the CSP and may bebased upon information published by the vendors of the CPEs. Forexample, sets may be provided as follows:

-   -   Vendor1, Platform1, Version1, Communication channel Typel→Set 1    -   Vendor1, Platform1, Version2, Communication channel Type1→Set 2    -   Vendor1, Platform1, Version1, Communication channel Type2→Set 3    -   Vendor1, Platform2, Version1, Communication channel Type1→Set 4    -   Vendor1, Platform2, Version1, Communication channel Type2→Set 5    -   Vendor1, Platform3, All communication channel types→Set 6    -   Vendor2, Platform1, Version1, Communication channel Type1→Set 7    -   Vendor2, Platform1, Version1, Communication channel Type2→Set 8    -   Vendor2, Platform2, Version1, All communication channel        types→Set 9    -   Vendor2, Platform2, Version2, All communication channel        types→Set 10        and so on.

Each unique combination of vendor information, platform information, andversion information may identify a particular CPE. The particular CPEcoupled with a particular communication channel type can be mapped to acorresponding set of parameters to be included in the configurationinformation for that CPE.

In certain embodiments, the set of parameters to be included in theconfiguration

information for the CPE may depend only upon the CPE information and noton the communication channel type information. For example, for aparticular CPE, the set of parameters may be the same irrespective ofthe type of communication channel being configured between the customeron-premise network and the customer VCN.

As part of the processing performed in 308, using the CPE andcommunication channel information provided by the user and received fromthe console, the CHS 112 searches information 114 using the CPE andchannel information as search keys and identifies a particular set ofparameters applicable for that combination. The one or more parametersidentified in this particular set represent the parameters that are tobe included in the configuration information for that CPE for thatcommunication channel. For example, for the CPE information provided inFIG. 5 and the communication channel information provided in FIG. 6 ,the set of parameters identified in 308 may include the parameters shownas 508 in FIG. 5 .

At block 310, from the parameters identified in 308, the CHS 112identifies a subset of parameters for which the customer has to provideassociated values. This subset of parameters represent parametersassociated with customer-specific values that may not be known to CHSand the CSP. These parameters may include, for example, IP addresses ofequipment (e.g., the CPE) in customer on-premise network, encryptionkeys used by the customer, and other like parameters whose values areknown to the customer. The set of parameters identified in 308 may alsoinclude other parameters that may be CSPI specific and these are notincluded in the subset identified in 310. These are dealt with in block322, as described below. In certain embodiments, for the set ofparameters identified in 308, the subset of parameters may have specialtags associated with them. The CHS 112 may use these special tags toidentify the subset in 310.

At block 312, for the subset of parameters identified in 310 for whichthe customer has to provide parameter values, the CHS 112 determines,for each parameter in the subset, if a value to be set or associatedwith the parameter is already known to the CHS 112 based uponcustomer-configured preferences and/or based upon a value, if any,provided in the past (e.g., before 302 or before the CHS receives therequest for generating the configuration information) by that customerfor that parameter. To facilitate the processing in 312, the CHS 112 mayaccess the particular customer's preferences information and may alsoaccess information storing any prior values provided by that customerfor any of the parameters included in the subset identified in 310. Forexample, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 , the CHS 112 accessescustomer preferences and prior-provided information 118 to determine ifany values have been previously provided or configured for any of theparameters included in the subset of parameters identified in 310. Theinformation in 118 may be stored in the form of key-value pairs, wherethe key identifies a parameter and the associated value identifies aparameter provided for that parameter.

In certain embodiments, a customer may configure preferences at thevendor level, at the (vendor+platform) level, or at the(vendor+platform+version) level. If a value for a particular parameterhas been configured by the customer at the vendor level, then in 312,that same value may be associated with the parameter for different CPEsfrom the same vendor irrespective of the platform and versioninformation. In a similar manner, if a value for a particular parameterhas been configured by the customer at the (vendor+platform) level, thenin 312, that value may be associated with the parameter for differentversions of the CPE under the same vendor and platform.

In certain embodiments, the CHS 112 is configured to record or storeinformation regarding values provided by the customer in the past for aparameter. As part of the processing in 312, the CHS 112 may refer tothis historical information recorded for the customer to identify valuesto be associated with the subset of parameters determined in 310. Theprior customer-provided information that may be stored are differentlevels of specificity, such as, at the vendor level, at the(vendor+platform) level, or at the (Vendor+platform+version) level. Aspart of the processing in 312, the CHS 112 may, starting from the mostspecific level, determine if a value has been provided by the customerin the past for a particular parameter. A value provided at a morespecific level is preferred over a value provided at a less specificlevel. For example, if the CPE for which configuration information is tobe generated is specified using vendor (V1), platform (P1), and version(Ver1) information, then, for a particular parameter, the CHS 112 firstdetermines if the customer has provided a value for that particularparameter at the (V1+P1+Ver1) level. If so, that value is identified asthe value in 312 for that particular parameter. If not, then the CHS 112sees if a customer-provided value is stored at the (V1+P1) level anduses that value. If not, then the CHS 112 sees if a customer-providedvalue is stored at the (V1) level and uses that value. In someinstances, if a value cannot be determined even at the vendor level,then the CHS 112 may even determine if a value has been provided by thecustomer for that particular parameter for a CPE from another vendor andidentify that value as the value for the particular parameter in 312.

At block 314, information identifying the subset of parametersidentified in 310 and any associated values for the subset identified in312 are communicated from the CHS 112 to the console from which therequest was received in 306. For example, for the embodiment depicted inFIG. 1 , the information is communicated from the CHS 112 to console102.

At block 316, the subset of parameters and any associated valuesreceived from the CHS 112 are output via the console. For example, theparameters and any associated values may be output via the console 102such that the user of the console can see the parameters and anyassociated values and can provide inputs with respect to the parameters.

In certain embodiments, a GUI may be generated to output the parametersin the subset and to show any associated values. The GUI may identifythe specific CPE and the specific communication channel. The GUI mayalso output parameters in the subset of parameters for which customerinput is requested. For each parameter, an associated field (e.g., textfield) may be provided where the user of the console can enter a valuefor the parameter. For a particular parameter, if an associated valuefor that parameter was determined in 314, then that value may bedisplayed in the associated field (i.e., the field may be pre-filledwith the associated value). For a parameter identified in 310, if noassociated value was determined for that parameter in 312, then theassociated field is left blank.

At block 318 (in FIG. 4 ), the user may, via the console, provide valuesfor one or more of the parameters output in 316. For a parameter thatalready has an associated value displayed, the user may keep the valuethe same (i.e., not change the value) or may change the value to adifferent value. For a parameter that does not already have anassociated value, the user may enter a value for the parameter.Accordingly, the GUI displayed to the user in 316 enables the user toprovide value for parameters for which customer input is needed.

FIG. 7 depicts an example GUI 700 that may be presented to the user bythe console showing configuration parameters for which customer input isrequested and via which the customer can provide values for theparameters, according to certain embodiments. As shown in GUI 700,information 701 is displayed identifying the specific CPE or whichconfiguration information is to be generated. Information 702 related tothe communication channel to be established is also displayed. Area 703of GUI 700 displays a set of parameters for which customer input isrequested. The parameters displayed in FIG. 7 include: outbound ACLname, outside interface, VCN IP range, VCN netmask, Next hop IP, cryptomap name, and VCN host IP. An input field (e.g., text input field 704)is displayed associated with each parameter. If an associated value wasdetermined for a parameter in 312, then that value would be displayed inthe field associated with the parameter. For a displayed parameter, theuser (e.g., a customer representative) can enter a value for thatparameter in the input field associated with that parameter. For a fieldthat has been pre-filled, the user can leave the value the same, orchange that value to a different value.

To help the user enter a value for a parameter, a user-selectable helperelement 706 is displayed. When the user interacts with this element,such as by hovering over the element or clicking the element, guideinformation 708 is displayed to the user that provides guidanceregarding the parameter and also regarding the values that can be setfor that parameter and details on types of information that should beentered into the text input field 704. For example, in the embodimentdepicted in FIG. 7 , the user has interacted with the help elementassociated with parameter “VCN host IP” and in response information 708is displayed explaining the parameter and the information to be enteredfor that parameter.

After the user has provided the values for the parameters in 318, atblock 320, the user inputs are communicated from the console to the CHS112. For example, for GUI 700 depicted in FIG. 7 , the user may select asubmission element 710. In some aspects, upon selection of thesubmission element 710, the values entered into the various fields 704are transmitted to the CHS 112. In certain embodiments, the values arecommunicated as key-value pairs, with the key corresponding to aparameter and the user input value corresponding to the value associatedwith that parameter.

As previously described, at block 310, the CHS 112 identifies a set ofparameters that are to be included in the configuration information tobe generated for the particular CPE. Then, at block 312, the CHS 112identifies, from the parameters identified in 310, a subset of theparameters for which customer input is needed, and this customer inputis received in 320. The set of parameters identified in 310 also maycomprise “other” parameters for which customer input is not needed.These “other” parameters are generally parameters that are specific tothe CSPI and information regarding the values to be set for these“other” parameters is known to the CHS 112. At block 322, the CHS 112determines the values for these other parameters.

At block 324, the CHS 112 determines additional information, if any, tobe included in the configuration information to be generated for theCPE. This additional information may be of various types. For example,in some instances, the additional information may include commands(e.g., Command Line Interface commands) to be included in theconfiguration information for the CPE. The additional information mayalso include help information that explains the configurationinformation and helps the customer understand the configurationinformation. In certain embodiments, the CHS 112 may determine theadditional information from the CPE-specific information sets 114. Inaddition to identifying the parameters to be included in theconfiguration information for a CPE, the CPE-specific information setmay also identify the additional information that is to be included inthe configuration information for the CPE.

At block 326, the CHS 112 determines a format for generating theconfiguration information for the CPE. The format may be CPE specific.The format may indicate, for example, identify the file format (e.g.,text file, Excel file, JSON format, etc.) to be used for theconfiguration information. In certain embodiments, the format mayspecify that the configuration information is to be generated in aspecific machine-readable or machine-executable format that is readableor executable by the CPE for which the configuration information is tobe generated. In some instances, the file format may be based on a userrole (e.g., customer on-premise network admin, cloud service providernetwork admin, etc.), and factors associated with the customeron-premise network. In certain embodiments, the format information maybe identified in the CPE-specific information sets 114.

At block 320, the CHS 112 generates the configuration information forthe CPE. The configuration information that is generated may include theset of parameters identified in 308 and their associated values (theseinclude parameters for which the customer has provided values and otherparameters for which values are determined in 322. The configurationinformation also includes any addition information determined in 324.The configuration information is generated according to the formatdetermined in 326. For example, the configuration information may begenerated in the format of a configuration file that is readable by orexecutable by the CPE.

An example of a configuration file generated by the CHS 112 is providebelow. As shown in the example below, information that may be includedin the configuration information can include:

-   -   (a) Parameters and their corresponding values. These parameters        may include parameters whose values are provided by the customer        and parameters whose value are known to or provided by the        providers of the CSPI. For example:

Cpe: ocid.oc1.cpe.cpeocidfoo ip address: 1.2.3.4 Tunnel 1:ocid.oc1.ipsectunnel.foobarbaz CSPI headend ip: 128.2.1.2 preshared key: myawesomepresharedkey CSPI bgp ip : 10.0.0.1/30 customer bgp ip :10.0.0.2/30 CSPI bgp asn : 54322 customer bgp asn : 12345 outside publicinterface name: et-0/1 #customer on-premise value security list name :mySecurityList #customer on-premise value customers on premise subnets :NOT SPECIFIED, replacement token $ON_PREMISE_SUBNETS

-   -   (b) Additional information, e.g., commands, help information.        Command example:

set security ike proposal oracle-ike-proposal authentication-methodpre-shared-keys set security ike proposal oracle-ike-proposalauthentication-algorithm sha-384 set security ike proposaloracle-ike-proposal encryption-algorithm aes-256-cbc set security ikeproposal oracle-ike-proposal lifetime-seconds 28800 set security ikeproposal oracle-ike-proposal dh-group group5Help information example:

# The configuration template involves setting up the following: # PHASE1 # PHASE 2 # SETTING THE SECURITY ZONES FOR ORACLE # SETTING THESECURITY POLICIES FOR ORACLE # SETTING THE SECURITY SETTING FOR ORACLE #SETTING BGP/STATIC ROUTING #--------------------------------------------------------------------------Setting up Public Interface with the CPE Public IP. # set interfaceset0.1 unit 0 family inet address 1.2.3.4 # Internet Key Exchange (IKE)Configuration (Phase 1) # Defining the IKE Proposal for CSPI # This IKE(Phase 1) configuration template uses AES256, SHA384, Diffie- # HellmanGroup 5, and 28800 second (8 hours) IKE session key lifetime. # Ifdifferent parameters are required, modify this template before applying# the configuration.

The configuration information may be generated in different formats. Forexample, in certain embodiments, a single configuration file may begenerated containing configuration information in JSON format. Incertain embodiments, the information in the configuration file is“commented out” and it is up to the customer system administrator touncomment those portions of the configuration information that are to beapplied to a CPE. This gives the customer complete control over theconfiguration information that is applied to the CPE.

The configuration information generated in 326 can be used in variousdifferent ways. For example, at block 330, the configuration informationgenerated in 328 may be communicated from the CHS 112 to the console andprovided/output to the user of the console that requested the generationof the configuration information. The user can then use theconfiguration information to configure CPE 110. For example, the CHS 112can transmit the configuration information to the console for display ina graphical user interface, or store it as a file to be selected by theuser of the console, or a copy of the configuration information can besaved to a local file system for subsequent configuration of the CPE.

In yet other instances, as shown at block 332, the configurationinformation generated in 328 may be communicated from the CHS 112 to thecustomer on-premise network containing the CPE for which theconfiguration information is generated. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the configuration information may be communicated and stored by thecustomer on-premise network as configuration information 108 that is tobe applied to CPE 110.

In yet other instances, as shown in block 334, the configurationinformation generated in 328 may be communicated to the customeron-premise network and applied to the CPE. For example, theconfiguration information may be generated in a form that is executableby or directly applicable to the CPE.

As described above, the CHS 112 automates and thus simplifies the taskof generating configuration information for a CPE. Given informationidentifying a particular CPE and a particular communication channel tobe established between the CPE and the customer's cloud/CSPI-hostednetwork, the CHS 112 identifies a particular set of configurationparameters that are to be included in the configuration information forthe particular CPE. The CHS 112 further identifies a subset ofparameters for which the customer has to provide values. These valuesare obtained from the customer. The CHS 112 also identifies anyadditional information to be included in the configuration informationand generates the configuration information according to an appropriateformat. The generated configuration information can then be applied tothe CPE. The CHS 112 thus simplifies the task of generating accurateconfiguration information for a CPE.

From the customer's perspective, the customer only has to provideinformation related to the CPE to be configured. This providedinformation can include some combination of vendor, platform, andversion information for the CPE. Optionally, the customer can provideinformation related to the communication channel between the on-premiseCPE and the cloud or CSPI-hosted network. The CHS 112 then automaticallygenerates the configuration information for the CPE. Additionally,inputs provided by the customer for previous configurations are storedand presented to the customer. This way the customer does not have torepeat previously provided information. At the same time, the customeris given the opportunity to change this previously provided informationif so desired. Only those parameters that are needed for theconfiguration information are provided to the customer for input. Thisprevents the customer from being overwhelmed with a large number ofparameters, many of which may are not needed for the configurationinformation for the CPE. There are various different ways in which thegenerate configuration information is delivered to the customer. Incertain instances, the customer can download a copy of the configurationinformation. In some other instances, the generated configurationinformation may be automatically downloaded to the on-premise site oreven to the CPE to be configured. In yet other instances, and aspermitted by the customer, the generated configuration information maybe applied to the CPE.

As described above, in certain embodiments, the CHS 112 usesCPE-specific sets of information (e.g., 114 in FIG. 1 ) to determine theparameters to be included in the configuration information, anyadditional information to be included, and also the format to be usedfor generating the configuration information. These CPE-specific setscan be modified or changed as the information needed for a CPE changes,the information to be included changes, or if the format changes. Incertain embodiments, as needed, providers of the CHS 112 can makechanges to CPE-specific sets of information. This provides greatflexibility in the use of CPE-specific sets of information for drivingthe generation of configuration information for specific CPEs.

Example Configuration Information for a CPE

The following provides an example of a configuration file that may begenerated by the CHS 112 according to certain embodiments.

# -------------------------------------------------- # ConfigurationTemplate # The configuration consists of two IPSec tunnels. CSP highlyrecommends that # you configure both tunnels for maximum redundancy. #-------------------------------------------------------------------------# This configuration is for the following vendor platform and version: #Vendor : Vendor_A # Platform : SRX # Version : > 17.1R8 #-------------------------------------------------------------------------# The following configuration parameters are from the CSP service # Cpe:ocid.oc1.cpe.cpeocidfoo # ip address: 1.2.3.4 # # Tunnel 1:ocid.oc1.ipsectunnel.foobarbaz # CSPI headend ip: 128.2.1.2 # presharedkey : myawesomepresharedkey # CSPI bgp ip : 10.0.0.1/30 # customer bgpip : 10.0.0.2/30 # CSPI bgp asn : 54322 # customer bgp asn : 12345 # #Tunnel 2: ocid.oc1.ipsectunnel.bimbop # CSPI headend ip: 128.2.2.2 #preshared key : mymoreawesomepresharedkey # CSPI bgp ip : 10.0.0.5/30 #customer bgp ip : 10.0.0.6/30 # CSPI bgp asn : 54322 # customer bgp asn: 12345 #-------------------------------------------------------------------------# The following configuration parameters are from the customer's onpremise # configuration # Common parameters # outside public interfacename: et-0/1 # security list name : mySecurityList # customers onpremise subnets : NOT SPECIFIED, replacement token $ON_PREMISE_SUBNETS ## Tunnel 1 parameters: ocid.oc1.ipsectunnel.foobarbaz # inside tunnelinterface name : st0.104 # # Tunnel 2 parameters:ocid.oc1.ipsectunnel.bimbop # inside tunnel interface name : st0.105 # #-------------------------------------------------------------------------# The configuration template involves setting up the following: # PHASE1 # PHASE 2 # SETTING THE SECURITY ZONES FOR ORACLE # SETTING THESECURITY POLICIES FOR ORACLE # SETTING THE SECURITY SETTING FOR ORACLE #SETTING BGP/STATIC ROUTING #-------------------------------------------------------------------------# Setting up Public Interface with the CPE Public IP. # set interfaceset0.1 unit 0 family inet address 1.2.3.4 # Internet Key Exchange (IKE)Configuration (Phase 1) # Defining the IKE Proposal for CSPI # This IKE(Phase 1) configuration template uses AES256, SHA384, Diffie- # HellmanGroup 5, and 28800 second (8 hours) IKE session key lifetime. # Ifdifferent parameters are required, modify this template before applying# the configuration. set security ike proposal oracle-ike-proposalauthentication-method pre-shared-keys set security ike proposaloracle-ike-proposal authentication-algorithm sha-384 set security ikeproposal oracle-ike-proposal encryption-algorithm aes-256-cbc setsecurity ike proposal oracle-ike-proposal lifetime-seconds 28800 setsecurity ike proposal oracle-ike-proposal dh-group group5 # Defining theIKE Policy for Oracle # Tunnel 1: ocid.oc1.ipsectunnel.foobarbaz setsecurity ike policy ike_pol_CSPI-vpn-128.2.1.2 mode main set securityike policy ike pol_CSPI-vpn-128.2.1.2 proposals oracle-ike-proposal setsecurity ike policy ike_pol_CSPI-vpn-128.2.1.2 pre-shared-key ascii-textmyawesomepresharedkey set security ike gateway gw_CSPI-128.2.1.2ike-policy ike_pol_CSPI-vpn-128.2.1.2 set security ike gateway gwCSPI-128.2.1.2 external-interface et-0/1 set security ike gatewaygw_CSPI-128.2.1.2 address 128.2.1.2 set security ike gatewaygw_CSPI-128.2.1.2 dead-peer-detection set security ike gatewaygw_CSPI-128.2.1.2 local-identity inet 1.2.3.4 # Tunnel 2:ocid.oc1.ipsectunnel.bimbop set security ike policyike_pol_CSPI-vpn-128.2.2.2 mode main set security ike policyike_pol_CSPI-vpn-128.2.2.2 proposals CSPI-ike-proposal set security ikepolicy ike pol CSPI-vpn-128.2.2.2 pre-shared-key ascii-textmymoreawesomepresharedkey set security ike gateway gw_CSPI-128.2.2.2ike-policy ike_pol_CSPI-vpn-128.2.2.2 set security ike gatewaygw_CSPI-128.2.2.2 external-interface et-0/1 set security ike gatewaygw_CSPI-128.2.2.2 address 128.2.2.2 set security ike gatewaygw_CSPI-128.2.2.2 dead-peer-detection set security ike gatewaygw_CSPI-128.2.2.2 local-identity inet 1.2.3.4 # IPSec Configuration #Defining the IPSec (Phase 2) Proposal for CSPI # The IPSec proposaldefines the protocol, authentication, encryption, and # lifetimeparameters for the IPsec security association. # The configurationtemplate sets AES256 for encryption, SHA1 for # authentication, enablesPFS group 5, and sets the IPSec session key # lifetime to 3600 seconds(1 hour). # The IPsec policy incorporates the Diffie-Hellman group andthe IPsec # proposal. # If different parameters are required, modifythis template before applying # the configuration. set security ipsecvpn-monitor-options set security ipsec proposal CSPI-ipsec-proposalprotocol esp set security ipsec proposal CSPI-ipsec-proposalauthentication-algorithm hmac-sha1-96; set security ipsec proposalCSPI-ipsec-proposal encryption-algorithm aes-256-cbc set security ipsecproposal CSPI-ipsec-proposal lifetime-seconds 3600 # Defining the IPSec(PHASE 2) policy for CSPI set security ipsec policy ipsec_pol_CSPI-vpnperfect-forward-secrecy keys group5 set security ipsec policyipsec_pol_CSPI-vpn proposals CSPI-ipsec-proposal # Defining SecurityAssociation for CSPI # The df-bit clear option allows the SRX tofragment the packet and send it # to the end host in CSPI to reassemblethe packet. # Tunnel 1: ocid.oc1.ipsectunnel.foobarbaz set securityipsec vpn CSPI-vpn-128.2.1.2 bind-interface st0.104 set security ipsecvpn CSPI-vpn-128.2.1.2 vpn-monitor set security ipsec vpnCSPI-vpn-128.2.1.2 ike gateway gw_CSPI-128.2.1.2 set security ipsec vpnCSPI-vpn-128.2.1.2 ike ipsec-policy ipsec_pol_CSPI-vpn set securityipsec vpn CSPI-vpn-128.2.1.2 df-bit clear set security ipsec vpnestablish-tunnels immediately # Tunnel 2: ocid.oc1.ipsectunnel.bimbopset security ipsec vpn CSPI-vpn-128.2.2.2 bind-interface st0.105 setsecurity ipsec vpn CSPI-vpn-128.2.2.2 vpn-monitor set security ipsec vpnCSPI-vpn-128.2.2.2 ike gateway gw_CSPI-128.2.2.2 set security ipsec vpnCSPI-vpn-128.2.2.2 ike ipsec-policy ipsec_pol_CSPI-vpn set securityipsec vpn CSPI-vpn-128.2.2.2 df-bit clear set security ipsec vpnestablish-tunnels immediately

Example Implementation of CSPI

As noted above, infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is one particulartype of cloud computing. IaaS can be configured to provide virtualizedcomputing resources over a public network (e.g., the Internet). In anIaaS model, a cloud computing provider can host the infrastructurecomponents (e.g., servers, storage devices, network nodes (e.g.,hardware), deployment software, platform virtualization (e.g., ahypervisor layer), or the like). In some cases, an IaaS provider mayalso supply a variety of services to accompany those infrastructurecomponents (e.g., billing, monitoring, logging, security, load balancingand clustering, etc.). Thus, as these services may be policy-driven,IaaS users may be able to implement policies to drive load balancing tomaintain application availability and performance.

In some instances, IaaS customers may access resources and servicesthrough a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, and can use thecloud provider's services to install the remaining elements of anapplication stack. For example, the user can log in to the IaaS platformto create virtual machines (VMs), install operating systems (OSs) oneach VM, deploy middleware such as databases, create storage buckets forworkloads and backups, and even install enterprise software into thatVM. Customers can then use the provider's services to perform variousfunctions, including balancing network traffic, troubleshootingapplication issues, monitoring performance, managing disaster recovery,etc.

In most cases, a cloud computing model will require the participation ofa cloud provider. The cloud provider may, but need not be, a third-partyservice that specializes in providing (e.g., offering, renting, selling)IaaS. An entity might also opt to deploy a private cloud, becoming itsown provider of infrastructure services.

In some examples, IaaS deployment is the process of putting a newapplication, or a new version of an application, onto a preparedapplication server or the like. It may also include the process ofpreparing the server (e.g., installing libraries, daemons, etc.). Thisis often managed by the cloud provider, below the hypervisor layer(e.g., the servers, storage, network hardware, and virtualization).Thus, the customer may be responsible for handling (OS), middleware,and/or application deployment (e.g., on self-service virtual machines(e.g., that can be spun up on demand)) or the like.

In some examples, IaaS provisioning may refer to acquiring computers orvirtual hosts for use, and even installing needed libraries or serviceson them. In most cases, deployment does not include provisioning, andthe provisioning may need to be performed first.

In some cases, there are two different problems for IaaS provisioning.First, there is the initial challenge of provisioning the initial set ofinfrastructure before anything is running. Second, there is thechallenge of evolving the existing infrastructure (e.g., adding newservices, changing services, removing services, etc.) once everythinghas been provisioned. In some cases, these two challenges may beaddressed by enabling the configuration of the infrastructure to bedefined declaratively. In other words, the infrastructure (e.g., whatcomponents are needed and how they interact) can be defined by one ormore configuration files. Thus, the overall topology of theinfrastructure (e.g., what resources depend on which, and how they eachwork together) can be described declaratively. In some instances, oncethe topology is defined, a workflow can be generated that creates and/ormanages the different components described in the configuration files.

In some examples, an infrastructure may have many interconnectedelements. For example, there may be one or more virtual private clouds(VPCs) (e.g., a potentially on-demand pool of configurable and/or sharedcomputing resources), also known as a core network. In some examples,there may also be one or more security group rules provisioned to definehow the security of the network will be set up and one or more virtualmachines (VMs). Other infrastructure elements may also be provisioned,such as a load balancer, a database, or the like. As more and moreinfrastructure elements are desired and/or added, the infrastructure mayincrementally evolve.

In some instances, continuous deployment techniques may be employed toenable deployment of infrastructure code across various virtualcomputing environments. Additionally, the described techniques canenable infrastructure management within these environments. In someexamples, service teams can write code that is desired to be deployed toone or more, but often many, different production environments (e.g.,across various different geographic locations, sometimes spanning theentire world). However, in some examples, the infrastructure on whichthe code will be deployed must first be set up. In some instances, theprovisioning can be done manually, a provisioning tool may be utilizedto provision the resources, and/or deployment tools may be utilized todeploy the code once the infrastructure is provisioned.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram 800 illustrating an example pattern of an IaaSarchitecture, according to at least one embodiment. Service operators802 can be communicatively coupled to a secure host tenancy 804 that caninclude a virtual cloud network (VCN) 806 and a secure host subnet 808.In some examples, the service operators 802 may be using one or moreclient computing devices, which may be portable handheld devices (e.g.,an iPhone®, cellular telephone, an iPad®, computing tablet, a personaldigital assistant (PDA)) or wearable devices (e.g., a Google Glass® headmounted display), running software such as Microsoft Windows Mobile®,and/or a variety of mobile operating systems such as iOS, Windows Phone,Android, BlackBerry 8, Palm OS, and the like, and being Internet,e-mail, short message service (SMS), Blackberry®, or other communicationprotocol enabled. Alternatively, the client computing devices can begeneral purpose personal computers including, by way of example,personal computers and/or laptop computers running various versions ofMicrosoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh®, and/or Linux operating systems.The client computing devices can be workstation computers running any ofa variety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-like operatingsystems, including without limitation the variety of GNU/Linux operatingsystems, such as for example, Google Chrome OS. Alternatively, or inaddition, client computing devices may be any other electronic device,such as a thin-client computer, an Internet-enabled gaming system (e.g.,a Microsoft Xbox gaming console with or without a Kinect® gesture inputdevice), and/or a personal messaging device, capable of communicatingover a network that can access the VCN 806 and/or the Internet.

The VCN 806 can include a local peering gateway (LPG) 810 that can becommunicatively coupled to a secure shell (SSH) VCN 812 via an LPG 810contained in the SSH VCN 812. The SSH VCN 812 can include an SSH subnet814, and the SSH VCN 812 can be communicatively coupled to a controlplane VCN 816 via the LPG 810 contained in the control plane VCN 816.Also, the SSH VCN 812 can be communicatively coupled to a data plane VCN818 via an LPG 810. The control plane VCN 816 and the data plane VCN 818can be contained in a service tenancy 819 that can be owned and/oroperated by the IaaS provider.

The control plane VCN 816 can include a control plane demilitarized zone(DMZ) tier 820 that acts as a perimeter network (e.g., portions of acorporate network between the corporate intranet and external networks).The DMZ-based servers may have restricted responsibilities and help keepsecurity breaches contained. Additionally, the DMZ tier 820 can includeone or more load balancer (LB) subnet(s) 822, a control plane app tier824 that can include app subnet(s) 826, a control plane data tier 828that can include database (DB) subnet(s) 830 (e.g., frontend DBsubnet(s) and/or backend DB subnet(s)). The LB subnet(s) 822 containedin the control plane DMZ tier 820 can be communicatively coupled to theapp subnet(s) 826 contained in the control plane app tier 824 and anInternet gateway 834 that can be contained in the control plane VCN 816,and the app subnet(s) 826 can be communicatively coupled to the DBsubnet(s) 830 contained in the control plane data tier 828 and a servicegateway 836 and a network address translation (NAT) gateway 838. Thecontrol plane VCN 816 can include the service gateway 836 and the NATgateway 838.

The control plane VCN 816 can include a data plane mirror app tier 840that can include app subnet(s) 826. The app subnet(s) 826 contained inthe data plane mirror app tier 840 can include a virtual networkinterface controller (VNIC) 842 that can execute a compute instance 844.The compute instance 844 can communicatively couple the app subnet(s)826 of the data plane mirror app tier 840 to app subnet(s) 826 that canbe contained in a data plane app tier 846.

The data plane VCN 818 can include the data plane app tier 846, a dataplane DMZ tier 848, and a data plane data tier 850. The data plane DMZtier 848 can include LB subnet(s) 822 that can be communicativelycoupled to the app subnet(s) 826 of the data plane app tier 846 and theInternet gateway 834 of the data plane VCN 818. The app subnet(s) 826can be communicatively coupled to the service gateway 836 of the dataplane VCN 818 and the NAT gateway 838 of the data plane VCN 818. Thedata plane data tier 850 can also include the DB subnet(s) 830 that canbe communicatively coupled to the app subnet(s) 826 of the data planeapp tier 846.

The Internet gateway 834 of the control plane VCN 816 and of the dataplane VCN 818 can be communicatively coupled to a metadata managementservice 852 that can be communicatively coupled to public Internet 854.Public Internet 854 can be communicatively coupled to the NAT gateway838 of the control plane VCN 816 and of the data plane VCN 818. Theservice gateway 836 of the control plane VCN 816 and of the data planeVCN 818 can be communicatively coupled to cloud services 856.

In some examples, the service gateway 836 of the control plane VCN 816or of the data plane VCN 818 can make application programming interface(API) calls to cloud services 856 without going through public Internet854. The API calls to cloud services 856 from the service gateway 836can be one-way: the service gateway 836 can make API calls to cloudservices 856, and cloud services 856 can send requested data to theservice gateway 836. But, cloud services 856 may not initiate API callsto the service gateway 836.

In some examples, the secure host tenancy 804 can be directly connectedto the service tenancy 819, which may be otherwise isolated. The securehost subnet 808 can communicate with the SSH subnet 814 through an LPG810 that may enable two-way communication over an otherwise isolatedsystem. Connecting the secure host subnet 808 to the SSH subnet 814 maygive the secure host subnet 808 access to other entities within theservice tenancy 819.

The control plane VCN 816 may allow users of the service tenancy 819 toset up or otherwise provision desired resources. Desired resourcesprovisioned in the control plane VCN 816 may be deployed or otherwiseused in the data plane VCN 818. In some examples, the control plane VCN816 can be isolated from the data plane VCN 818, and the data planemirror app tier 840 of the control plane VCN 816 can communicate withthe data plane app tier 846 of the data plane VCN 818 via VNICs 842 thatcan be contained in the data plane mirror app tier 840 and the dataplane app tier 846.

In some examples, users of the system, or customers, can make requests,for example create, read, update, or delete (CRUD) operations, throughpublic Internet 854 that can communicate the requests to the metadatamanagement service 852. The metadata management service 852 cancommunicate the request to the control plane VCN 816 through theInternet gateway 834. The request can be received by the LB subnet(s)822 contained in the control plane DMZ tier 820. The LB subnet(s) 822may determine that the request is valid, and in response to thisdetermination, the LB subnet(s) 822 can transmit the request to appsubnet(s) 826 contained in the control plane app tier 824. If therequest is validated and requires a call to public Internet 854, thecall to public Internet 854 may be transmitted to the NAT gateway 838that can make the call to public Internet 854. Memory that may bedesired to be stored by the request can be stored in the DB subnet(s)830.

In some examples, the data plane mirror app tier 840 can facilitatedirect communication between the control plane VCN 816 and the dataplane VCN 818. For example, changes, updates, or other suitablemodifications to configuration may be desired to be applied to theresources contained in the data plane VCN 818. Via a VNIC 842, thecontrol plane VCN 816 can directly communicate with, and can therebyexecute the changes, updates, or other suitable modifications toconfiguration to, resources contained in the data plane VCN 818.

In some embodiments, the control plane VCN 816 and the data plane VCN818 can be contained in the service tenancy 819. In this case, the user,or the customer, of the system may not own or operate either the controlplane VCN 816 or the data plane VCN 818. Instead, the IaaS provider mayown or operate the control plane VCN 816 and the data plane VCN 818,both of which may be contained in the service tenancy 819. Thisembodiment can enable isolation of networks that may prevent users orcustomers from interacting with other users', or other customers',resources. Also, this embodiment may allow users or customers of thesystem to store databases privately without needing to rely on publicInternet 854, which may not have a desired level of security, forstorage.

In other embodiments, the LB subnet(s) 822 contained in the controlplane VCN 816 can be configured to receive a signal from the servicegateway 836. In this embodiment, the control plane VCN 816 and the dataplane VCN 818 may be configured to be called by a customer of the IaaSprovider without calling public Internet 854. Customers of the IaaSprovider may desire this embodiment since database(s) that the customersuse may be controlled by the IaaS provider and may be stored on theservice tenancy 819, which may be isolated from public Internet 854.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram 900 illustrating another example pattern of anIaaS architecture, according to at least one embodiment. Serviceoperators 902 (e.g. service operators 802 of FIG. 8 ) can becommunicatively coupled to a secure host tenancy 904 (e.g. the securehost tenancy 804 of FIG. 8 ) that can include a virtual cloud network(VCN) 906 (e.g. the VCN 806 of FIG. 8 ) and a secure host subnet 908(e.g. the secure host subnet 808 of FIG. 8 ). The VCN 906 can include alocal peering gateway (LPG) 910 (e.g. the LPG 810 of FIG. 8 ) that canbe communicatively coupled to a secure shell (SSH) VCN 912 (e.g. the SSHVCN 812 of FIG. 8 ) via an LPG 810 contained in the SSH VCN 912. The SSHVCN 912 can include an SSH subnet 914 (e.g. the SSH subnet 814 of FIG. 8), and the SSH VCN 912 can be communicatively coupled to a control planeVCN 916 (e.g. the control plane VCN 816 of FIG. 8 ) via an LPG 910contained in the control plane VCN 916. The control plane VCN 916 can becontained in a service tenancy 919 (e.g. the service tenancy 819 of FIG.8 ), and the data plane VCN 918 (e.g. the data plane VCN 818 of FIG. 8 )can be contained in a customer tenancy 921 that may be owned or operatedby users, or customers, of the system.

The control plane VCN 916 can include a control plane DMZ tier 920 (e.g.the control plane DMZ tier 820 of FIG. 8 ) that can include LB subnet(s)922 (e.g. LB subnet(s) 822 of FIG. 8 ), a control plane app tier 924(e.g. the control plane app tier 824 of FIG. 8 ) that can include appsubnet(s) 926 (e.g. app subnet(s) 826 of FIG. 8 ), a control plane datatier 928 (e.g. the control plane data tier 828 of FIG. 8 ) that caninclude database (DB) subnet(s) 930 (e.g. similar to DB subnet(s) 830 ofFIG. 8 ). The LB subnet(s) 922 contained in the control plane DMZ tier920 can be communicatively coupled to the app subnet(s) 926 contained inthe control plane app tier 924 and an Internet gateway 934 (e.g. theInternet gateway 834 of FIG. 8 ) that can be contained in the controlplane VCN 916, and the app subnet(s) 926 can be communicatively coupledto the DB subnet(s) 930 contained in the control plane data tier 928 anda service gateway 936 (e.g. the service gateway of FIG. 8 ) and anetwork address translation (NAT) gateway 938 (e.g. the NAT gateway 838of FIG. 8 ). The control plane VCN 916 can include the service gateway936 and the NAT gateway 938.

The control plane VCN 916 can include a data plane mirror app tier 940(e.g. the data plane mirror app tier 840 of FIG. 8 ) that can includeapp subnet(s) 926. The app subnet(s) 926 contained in the data planemirror app tier 940 can include a virtual network interface controller(VNIC) 942 (e.g. the VNIC of 842) that can execute a compute instance944 (e.g. similar to the compute instance 844 of FIG. 8 ). The computeinstance 944 can facilitate communication between the app subnet(s) 926of the data plane mirror app tier 940 and the app subnet(s) 926 that canbe contained in a data plane app tier 946 (e.g. the data plane app tier846 of FIG. 8 ) via the VNIC 942 contained in the data plane mirror apptier 940 and the VNIC 942 contained in the data plane app tier 946.

The Internet gateway 934 contained in the control plane VCN 916 can becommunicatively coupled to a metadata management service 952 (e.g. themetadata management service 852 of FIG. 8 ) that can be communicativelycoupled to public Internet 954 (e.g. public Internet 854 of FIG. 8 ).Public Internet 954 can be communicatively coupled to the NAT gateway938 contained in the control plane VCN 916. The service gateway 936contained in the control plane VCN 916 can be communicatively couple tocloud services 956 (e.g. cloud services 856 of FIG. 8 ).

In some examples, the data plane VCN 918 can be contained in thecustomer tenancy 921. In this case, the IaaS provider may provide thecontrol plane VCN 916 for each customer, and the IaaS provider may, foreach customer, set up a unique compute instance 944 that is contained inthe service tenancy 919. Each compute instance 944 may allowcommunication between the control plane VCN 916, contained in theservice tenancy 919, and the data plane VCN 918 that is contained in thecustomer tenancy 921. The compute instance 944 may allow resources, thatare provisioned in the control plane VCN 916 that is contained in theservice tenancy 919, to be deployed or otherwise used in the data planeVCN 918 that is contained in the customer tenancy 921.

In other examples, the customer of the IaaS provider may have databasesthat live in the customer tenancy 921. In this example, the controlplane VCN 916 can include the data plane mirror app tier 940 that caninclude app subnet(s) 926. The data plane mirror app tier 940 can residein the data plane VCN 918, but the data plane mirror app tier 940 maynot live in the data plane VCN 918. That is, the data plane mirror apptier 940 may have access to the customer tenancy 921, but the data planemirror app tier 940 may not exist in the data plane VCN 918 or be ownedor operated by the customer of the IaaS provider. The data plane mirrorapp tier 940 may be configured to make calls to the data plane VCN 918,but may not be configured to make calls to any entity contained in thecontrol plane VCN 916. The customer may desire to deploy or otherwiseuse resources in the data plane VCN 918 that are provisioned in thecontrol plane VCN 916, and the data plane mirror app tier 940 canfacilitate the desired deployment, or other usage of resources, of thecustomer.

In some embodiments, the customer of the IaaS provider can apply filtersto the data plane VCN 918. In this embodiment, the customer candetermine what the data plane VCN 918 can access, and the customer mayrestrict access to public Internet 954 from the data plane VCN 918. TheIaaS provider may not be able to apply filters or otherwise controlaccess of the data plane VCN 918 to any outside networks or databases.Applying filters and controls by the customer onto the data plane VCN918, contained in the customer tenancy 921, can help isolate the dataplane VCN 918 from other customers and from public Internet 954.

In some embodiments, cloud services 956 can be called by the servicegateway 936 to access services that may not exist on public Internet954, on the control plane VCN 916, or on the data plane VCN 918. Theconnection between cloud services 956 and the control plane VCN 916 orthe data plane VCN 918 may not be live or continuous. Cloud services 956may exist on a different network owned or operated by the IaaS provider.Cloud services 956 may be configured to receive calls from the servicegateway 936 and may be configured to not receive calls from publicInternet 954. Some cloud services 956 may be isolated from other cloudservices 956, and the control plane VCN 916 may be isolated from cloudservices 956 that may not be in the same region as the control plane VCN916. For example, the control plane VCN 916 may be located in “Region1,” and cloud service “Deployment 8,” may be located in Region 1 and in“Region 2.” If a call to Deployment 8 is made by the service gateway 936contained in the control plane VCN 916 located in Region 1, the call maybe transmitted to Deployment 8 in Region 1. In this example, the controlplane VCN 916, or Deployment 8 in Region 1, may not be communicativelycoupled to, or otherwise in communication with, Deployment 8 in Region2.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram 1000 illustrating another example pattern ofan IaaS architecture, according to at least one embodiment. Serviceoperators 1002 (e.g. service operators 802 of FIG. 8 ) can becommunicatively coupled to a secure host tenancy 1004 (e.g. the securehost tenancy 804 of FIG. 8 ) that can include a virtual cloud network(VCN) 1006 (e.g. the VCN 806 of FIG. 8 ) and a secure host subnet 1008(e.g. the secure host subnet 808 of FIG. 8 ). The VCN 1006 can includean LPG 1010 (e.g. the LPG 810 of FIG. 8 ) that can be communicativelycoupled to an SSH VCN 1012 (e.g. the SSH VCN 812 of FIG. 8 ) via an LPG1010 contained in the SSH VCN 1012. The SSH VCN 1012 can include an SSHsubnet 1014 (e.g. the SSH subnet 814 of FIG. 8 ), and the SSH VCN 1012can be communicatively coupled to a control plane VCN 1016 (e.g. thecontrol plane VCN 816 of FIG. 8 ) via an LPG 1010 contained in thecontrol plane VCN 1016 and to a data plane VCN 1018 (e.g. the data plane818 of FIG. 8 ) via an LPG 1010 contained in the data plane VCN 1018.The control plane VCN 1016 and the data plane VCN 1018 can be containedin a service tenancy 1019 (e.g. the service tenancy 819 of FIG. 8 ).

The control plane VCN 1016 can include a control plane DMZ tier 1020(e.g. the control plane DMZ tier 820 of FIG. 8 ) that can include loadbalancer (LB) subnet(s) 1022 (e.g. LB subnet(s) 822 of FIG. 8 ), acontrol plane app tier 1024 (e.g. the control plane app tier 824 of FIG.8 ) that can include app subnet(s) 1026 (e.g. similar to app subnet(s)826 of FIG. 8 ), a control plane data tier 1028 (e.g. the control planedata tier 828 of FIG. 8 ) that can include DB subnet(s) 1030. The LBsubnet(s) 1022 contained in the control plane DMZ tier 1020 can becommunicatively coupled to the app subnet(s) 1026 contained in thecontrol plane app tier 1024 and to an Internet gateway 1034 (e.g. theInternet gateway 834 of FIG. 8 ) that can be contained in the controlplane VCN 1016, and the app subnet(s) 1026 can be communicativelycoupled to the DB subnet(s) 1030 contained in the control plane datatier 1028 and to a service gateway 1036 (e.g. the service gateway ofFIG. 8 ) and a network address translation (NAT) gateway 1038 (e.g. theNAT gateway 838 of FIG. 8 ). The control plane VCN 1016 can include theservice gateway 1036 and the NAT gateway 1038.

The data plane VCN 1018 can include a data plane app tier 1046 (e.g. thedata plane app tier 846 of FIG. 8 ), a data plane DMZ tier 1048 (e.g.the data plane DMZ tier 848 of FIG. 8 ), and a data plane data tier 1050(e.g. the data plane data tier 850 of FIG. 8 ). The data plane DMZ tier1048 can include LB subnet(s) 1022 that can be communicatively coupledto trusted app subnet(s) 1060 and untrusted app subnet(s) 1062 of thedata plane app tier 1046 and the Internet gateway 1034 contained in thedata plane VCN 1018. The trusted app subnet(s) 1060 can becommunicatively coupled to the service gateway 1036 contained in thedata plane VCN 1018, the NAT gateway 1038 contained in the data planeVCN 1018, and DB subnet(s) 1030 contained in the data plane data tier1050. The untrusted app subnet(s) 1062 can be communicatively coupled tothe service gateway 1036 contained in the data plane VCN 1018 and DBsubnet(s) 1030 contained in the data plane data tier 1050. The dataplane data tier 1050 can include DB subnet(s) 1030 that can becommunicatively coupled to the service gateway 1036 contained in thedata plane VCN 1018.

The untrusted app subnet(s) 1062 can include one or more primary VNICs1064(1)-(N) that can be communicatively coupled to tenant virtualmachines (VMs) 1066(1)-(N). Each tenant VM 1066(1)-(N) can becommunicatively coupled to a respective app subnet 1067(1)-(N) that canbe contained in respective container egress VCNs 1068(1)-(N) that can becontained in respective customer tenancies 1070(1)-(N). Respectivesecondary VNICs 1072(1)-(N) can facilitate communication between theuntrusted app subnet(s) 1062 contained in the data plane VCN 1018 andthe app subnet contained in the container egress VCNs 1068(1)-(N). Eachcontainer egress VCNs 1068(1)-(N) can include a NAT gateway 1038 thatcan be communicatively coupled to public Internet 1054 (e.g. publicInternet 854 of FIG. 8 ).

The Internet gateway 1034 contained in the control plane VCN 1016 andcontained in the data plane VCN 1018 can be communicatively coupled to ametadata management service 1052 (e.g. the metadata management system852 of FIG. 8 ) that can be communicatively coupled to public Internet1054. Public Internet 1054 can be communicatively coupled to the NATgateway 1038 contained in the control plane VCN 1016 and contained inthe data plane VCN 1018. The service gateway 1036 contained in thecontrol plane VCN 1016 and contained in the data plane VCN 1018 can becommunicatively couple to cloud services 1056.

In some embodiments, the data plane VCN 1018 can be integrated withcustomer tenancies 1070. This integration can be useful or desirable forcustomers of the IaaS provider in some cases such as a case that maydesire support when executing code. The customer may provide code to runthat may be destructive, may communicate with other customer resources,or may otherwise cause undesirable effects. In response to this, theIaaS provider may determine whether to run code given to the IaaSprovider by the customer.

In some examples, the customer of the IaaS provider may grant temporarynetwork access to the IaaS provider and request a function to beattached to the data plane tier app 1046. Code to run the function maybe executed in the VMs 1066(1)-(N), and the code may not be configuredto run anywhere else on the data plane VCN 1018. Each VM 1066(1)-(N) maybe connected to one customer tenancy 1070. Respective containers1071(1)-(N) contained in the VMs 1066(1)-(N) may be configured to runthe code. In this case, there can be a dual isolation (e.g., thecontainers 1071(1)-(N) running code, where the containers 1071(1)-(N)may be contained in at least the VM 1066(1)-(N) that are contained inthe untrusted app subnet(s) 1062), which may help prevent incorrect orotherwise undesirable code from damaging the network of the IaaSprovider or from damaging a network of a different customer. Thecontainers 1071(1)-(N) may be communicatively coupled to the customertenancy 1070 and may be configured to transmit or receive data from thecustomer tenancy 1070. The containers 1071(1)-(N) may not be configuredto transmit or receive data from any other entity in the data plane VCN1018. Upon completion of running the code, the IaaS provider may kill orotherwise dispose of the containers 1071(1)-(N).

In some embodiments, the trusted app subnet(s) 1060 may run code thatmay be owned or operated by the IaaS provider. In this embodiment, thetrusted app subnet(s) 1060 may be communicatively coupled to the DBsubnet(s) 1030 and be configured to execute CRUD operations in the DBsubnet(s) 1030. The untrusted app subnet(s) 1062 may be communicativelycoupled to the DB subnet(s) 1030, but in this embodiment, the untrustedapp subnet(s) may be configured to execute read operations in the DBsubnet(s) 1030. The containers 1071(1)-(N) that can be contained in theVM 1066(1)-(N) of each customer and that may run code from the customermay not be communicatively coupled with the DB subnet(s) 1030.

In other embodiments, the control plane VCN 1016 and the data plane VCN1018 may not be directly communicatively coupled. In this embodiment,there may be no direct communication between the control plane VCN 1016and the data plane VCN 1018. However, communication can occur indirectlythrough at least one method. An LPG 1010 may be established by the IaaSprovider that can facilitate communication between the control plane VCN1016 and the data plane VCN 1018. In another example, the control planeVCN 1016 or the data plane VCN 1018 can make a call to cloud services1056 via the service gateway 1036. For example, a call to cloud services1056 from the control plane VCN 1016 can include a request for a servicethat can communicate with the data plane VCN 1018.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram 1100 illustrating another example pattern ofan IaaS architecture, according to at least one embodiment. Serviceoperators 1102 (e.g. service operators 802 of FIG. 8 ) can becommunicatively coupled to a secure host tenancy 1104 (e.g. the securehost tenancy 804 of FIG. 8 ) that can include a virtual cloud network(VCN) 1106 (e.g. the VCN 806 of FIG. 8 ) and a secure host subnet 1108(e.g. the secure host subnet 808 of FIG. 8 ). The VCN 1106 can includean LPG 1110 (e.g. the LPG 810 of FIG. 8 ) that can be communicativelycoupled to an SSH VCN 1112 (e.g. the SSH VCN 812 of FIG. 8 ) via an LPG1110 contained in the SSH VCN 1112. The SSH VCN 1112 can include an SSHsubnet 1114 (e.g. the SSH subnet 814 of FIG. 8 ), and the SSH VCN 1112can be communicatively coupled to a control plane VCN 1116 (e.g. thecontrol plane VCN 816 of FIG. 8 ) via an LPG 1110 contained in thecontrol plane VCN 1116 and to a data plane VCN 1118 (e.g. the data plane818 of FIG. 8 ) via an LPG 1110 contained in the data plane VCN 1118.The control plane VCN 1116 and the data plane VCN 1118 can be containedin a service tenancy 1119 (e.g. the service tenancy 819 of FIG. 8 ).

The control plane VCN 1116 can include a control plane DMZ tier 1120(e.g. the control plane DMZ tier 820 of FIG. 8 ) that can include LBsubnet(s) 1122 (e.g. LB subnet(s) 822 of FIG. 8 ), a control plane apptier 1124 (e.g. the control plane app tier 824 of FIG. 8 ) that caninclude app subnet(s) 1126 (e.g. app subnet(s) 826 of FIG. 8 ), acontrol plane data tier 1128 (e.g. the control plane data tier 828 ofFIG. 8 ) that can include DB subnet(s) 1130 (e.g. DB subnet(s) 1030 ofFIG. 10 ). The LB subnet(s) 1122 contained in the control plane DMZ tier1120 can be communicatively coupled to the app subnet(s) 1126 containedin the control plane app tier 1124 and to an Internet gateway 1134 (e.g.the Internet gateway 834 of FIG. 8 ) that can be contained in thecontrol plane VCN 1116, and the app subnet(s) 1126 can becommunicatively coupled to the DB subnet(s) 1130 contained in thecontrol plane data tier 1128 and to a service gateway 1136 (e.g. theservice gateway of FIG. 8 ) and a network address translation (NAT)gateway 1138 (e.g. the NAT gateway 838 of FIG. 8 ). The control planeVCN 1116 can include the service gateway 1136 and the NAT gateway 1138.

The data plane VCN 1118 can include a data plane app tier 1146 (e.g. thedata plane app tier 846 of FIG. 8 ), a data plane DMZ tier 1148 (e.g.the data plane DMZ tier 848 of FIG. 8 ), and a data plane data tier 1150(e.g. the data plane data tier 850 of FIG. 8 ). The data plane DMZ tier1148 can include LB subnet(s) 1122 that can be communicatively coupledto trusted app subnet(s) 1160 (e.g. trusted app subnet(s) 1060 of FIG.10 ) and untrusted app subnet(s) 1162 (e.g. untrusted app subnet(s) 1062of FIG. 10 ) of the data plane app tier 1146 and the Internet gateway1134 contained in the data plane VCN 1118. The trusted app subnet(s)1160 can be communicatively coupled to the service gateway 1136contained in the data plane VCN 1118, the NAT gateway 1138 contained inthe data plane VCN 1118, and DB subnet(s) 1130 contained in the dataplane data tier 1150. The untrusted app subnet(s) 1162 can becommunicatively coupled to the service gateway 1136 contained in thedata plane VCN 1118 and DB subnet(s) 1130 contained in the data planedata tier 1150. The data plane data tier 1150 can include DB subnet(s)1130 that can be communicatively coupled to the service gateway 1136contained in the data plane VCN 1118.

The untrusted app subnet(s) 1162 can include primary VNICs 1164(1)-(N)that can be communicatively coupled to tenant virtual machines (VMs)1166(1)-(N) residing within the untrusted app subnet(s) 1162. Eachtenant VM 1166(1)-(N) can run code in a respective container1167(1)-(N), and be communicatively coupled to an app subnet 1126 thatcan be contained in a data plane app tier 1146 that can be contained ina container egress VCN 1168. Respective secondary VNICs 1172(1)-(N) canfacilitate communication between the untrusted app subnet(s) 1162contained in the data plane VCN 1118 and the app subnet contained in thecontainer egress VCN 1168. The container egress VCN can include a NATgateway 1138 that can be communicatively coupled to public Internet 1154(e.g. public Internet 854 of FIG. 8 ).

The Internet gateway 1134 contained in the control plane VCN 1116 andcontained in the data plane VCN 1118 can be communicatively coupled to ametadata management service 1152 (e.g. the metadata management system852 of FIG. 8 ) that can be communicatively coupled to public Internet1154. Public Internet 1154 can be communicatively coupled to the NATgateway 1138 contained in the control plane VCN 1116 and contained inthe data plane VCN 1118. The service gateway 1136 contained in thecontrol plane VCN 1116 and contained in the data plane VCN 1118 can becommunicatively couple to cloud services 1156.

In some examples, the pattern illustrated by the architecture of blockdiagram 1100 of FIG. 11 may be considered an exception to the patternillustrated by the architecture of block diagram 1000 of FIG. 10 and maybe desirable for a customer of the IaaS provider if the IaaS providercannot directly communicate with the customer (e.g., a disconnectedregion). The respective containers 1167(1)-(N) that are contained in theVMs 1166(1)-(N) for each customer can be accessed in real-time by thecustomer. The containers 1167(1)-(N) may be configured to make calls torespective secondary VNICs 1172(1)-(N) contained in app subnet(s) 1126of the data plane app tier 1146 that can be contained in the containeregress VCN 1168. The secondary VNICs 1172(1)-(N) can transmit the callsto the NAT gateway 1138 that may transmit the calls to public Internet1154. In this example, the containers 1167(1)-(N) that can be accessedin real-time by the customer can be isolated from the control plane VCN1116 and can be isolated from other entities contained in the data planeVCN 1118. The containers 1167(1)-(N) may also be isolated from resourcesfrom other customers.

In other examples, the customer can use the containers 1167(1)-(N) tocall cloud services 1156. In this example, the customer may run code inthe containers 1167(1)-(N) that requests a service from cloud services1156. The containers 1167(1)-(N) can transmit this request to thesecondary VNICs 1172(1)-(N) that can transmit the request to the NATgateway that can transmit the request to public Internet 1154. PublicInternet 1154 can transmit the request to LB subnet(s) 1122 contained inthe control plane VCN 1116 via the Internet gateway 1134. In response todetermining the request is valid, the LB subnet(s) can transmit therequest to app subnet(s) 1126 that can transmit the request to cloudservices 1156 via the service gateway 1136.

It should be appreciated that IaaS architectures 800, 900, 1000, 1100depicted in the figures may have other components than those depicted.Further, the embodiments shown in the figures are only some examples ofa cloud infrastructure system that may incorporate certain embodiments.In some other embodiments, the IaaS systems may have more or fewercomponents than shown in the figures, may combine two or morecomponents, or may have a different configuration or arrangement ofcomponents.

In certain embodiments, the IaaS systems described herein may include asuite of applications, middleware, and database service offerings thatare delivered to a customer in a self-service, subscription-based,elastically scalable, reliable, highly available, and secure manner. Anexample of such an IaaS system is the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)provided by the present assignee.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example computer system 1200, that may be used toimplement various embodiments. The system 1200 may be used to implementany of the computer systems described above. As shown in the figure,computer system 1200 includes a processing unit 1204 that communicateswith a number of peripheral subsystems via a bus subsystem 1202. Theseperipheral subsystems may include a processing acceleration unit 1206,an I/O subsystem 1208, a storage subsystem 1218 and a communicationssubsystem 1224. Storage subsystem 1218 includes tangiblecomputer-readable storage media 1222 and a system memory 1210.

Bus subsystem 1202 provides a mechanism for letting the variouscomponents and subsystems of computer system 1200 communicate with eachother as intended. Although bus subsystem 1202 is shown schematically asa single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may utilizemultiple buses. Bus subsystem 1202 may be any of several types of busstructures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. Forexample, such architectures may include an Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, EnhancedISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) localbus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, which can beimplemented as a Mezzanine bus manufactured to the IEEE P1386.1standard.

Processing unit 1204, which can be implemented as one or more integratedcircuits (e.g., a conventional microprocessor or microcontroller),controls the operation of computer system 1200. One or more processorsmay be included in processing unit 1204. These processors may includesingle core or multicore processors. In certain embodiments, processingunit 1204 may be implemented as one or more independent processing units1232 and/or 1234 with single or multicore processors included in eachprocessing unit. In other embodiments, processing unit 1204 may also beimplemented as a quad-core processing unit formed by integrating twodual-core processors into a single chip.

In various embodiments, processing unit 1204 can execute a variety ofprograms in response to program code and can maintain multipleconcurrently executing programs or processes. At any given time, some orall of the program code to be executed can be resident in processor(s)1204 and/or in storage subsystem 1218. Through suitable programming,processor(s) 1204 can provide various functionalities described above.Computer system 1200 may additionally include a processing accelerationunit 1206, which can include a digital signal processor (DSP), aspecial-purpose processor, and/or the like.

I/O subsystem 1208 may include user interface input devices and userinterface output devices. User interface input devices may include akeyboard, pointing devices such as a mouse or trackball, a touchpad ortouch screen incorporated into a display, a scroll wheel, a click wheel,a dial, a button, a switch, a keypad, audio input devices with voicecommand recognition systems, microphones, and other types of inputdevices. User interface input devices may include, for example, motionsensing and/or gesture recognition devices such as the Microsoft Kinect®motion sensor that enables users to control and interact with an inputdevice, such as the Microsoft Xbox® 360 game controller, through anatural user interface using gestures and spoken commands. Userinterface input devices may also include eye gesture recognition devicessuch as the Google Glass® blink detector that detects eye activity(e.g., ‘blinking’ while taking pictures and/or making a menu selection)from users and transforms the eye gestures as input into an input device(e.g., Google Glass®). Additionally, user interface input devices mayinclude voice recognition sensing devices that enable users to interactwith voice recognition systems (e.g., Siri® navigator), through voicecommands.

User interface input devices may also include, without limitation, threedimensional (3D) mice, joysticks or pointing sticks, gamepads andgraphic tablets, and audio/visual devices such as speakers, digitalcameras, digital camcorders, portable media players, webcams, imagescanners, fingerprint scanners, barcode reader 3D scanners, 3D printers,laser rangefinders, and eye gaze tracking devices. Additionally, userinterface input devices may include, for example, medical imaging inputdevices such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging,position emission tomography, medical ultrasonography devices. Userinterface input devices may also include, for example, audio inputdevices such as MIDI keyboards, digital musical instruments and thelike.

User interface output devices may include a display subsystem, indicatorlights, or non-visual displays such as audio output devices, etc. Thedisplay subsystem may be a cathode ray tube (CRT), a flat-panel device,such as that using a liquid crystal display (LCD) or plasma display, aprojection device, a touch screen, and the like. In general, use of theterm “output device” is intended to include all possible types ofdevices and mechanisms for outputting information from computer system1200 to a user or other computer. For example, user interface outputdevices may include, without limitation, a variety of display devicesthat visually convey text, graphics and audio/video information such asmonitors, printers, speakers, headphones, automotive navigation systems,plotters, voice output devices, and modems.

Computer system 1200 may comprise a storage subsystem 1218 thatcomprises software elements, shown as being currently located within asystem memory 1210. System memory 1210 may store program instructionsthat are loadable and executable on processing unit 1204, as well asdata generated during the execution of these programs.

Depending on the configuration and type of computer system 1200, systemmemory 1210 may be volatile (such as random access memory (RAM)) and/ornon-volatile (such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.) TheRAM typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediatelyaccessible to and/or presently being operated and executed by processingunit 1204. In some implementations, system memory 1210 may includemultiple different types of memory, such as static random access memory(SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). In some implementations,a basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines thathelp to transfer information between elements within computer system1200, such as during start-up, may typically be stored in the ROM. Byway of example, and not limitation, system memory 1210 also illustratesapplication programs 1212, which may include client applications, Webbrowsers, mid-tier applications, relational database management systems(RDBMS), etc., program data 1214, and an operating system 1216. By wayof example, operating system 1216 may include various versions ofMicrosoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh®, and/or Linux operating systems, avariety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-like operating systems(including without limitation the variety of GNU/Linux operatingsystems, the Google Chrome® OS, and the like) and/or mobile operatingsystems such as iOS, Windows® Phone, Android® OS, BlackBerry® 12 OS, andPalm® OS operating systems.

Storage subsystem 1218 may also provide a tangible computer-readablestorage medium for storing the basic programming and data constructsthat provide the functionality of some embodiments. Software (programs,code modules, instructions) that when executed by a processor providethe functionality described above may be stored in storage subsystem1218. These software modules or instructions may be executed byprocessing unit 1204. Storage subsystem 1218 may also provide arepository for storing data used in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

Storage subsystem 1200 may also include a computer-readable storagemedia reader 1220 that can further be connected to computer-readablestorage media 1222. Together and, optionally, in combination with systemmemory 1210, computer-readable storage media 1222 may comprehensivelyrepresent remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plusstorage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing,storing, transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information.

Computer-readable storage media 1222 containing code, or portions ofcode, can also include any appropriate media known or used in the art,including storage media and communication media, such as but not limitedto, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmissionof information. This can include tangible computer-readable storagemedia such as RAM, ROM, electronically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disk (DVD), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or other tangible computer readable media. This can also includenontangible computer-readable media, such as data signals, datatransmissions, or any other medium which can be used to transmit thedesired information and which can be accessed by computing system 1200.

By way of example, computer-readable storage media 1222 may include ahard disk drive that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatilemagnetic media, a magnetic disk drive that reads from or writes to aremovable, nonvolatile magnetic disk, and an optical disk drive thatreads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk such as aCD ROM, DVD, and Blu-Ray® disk, or other optical media.Computer-readable storage media 1222 may include, but is not limited to,Zip® drives, flash memory cards, universal serial bus (USB) flashdrives, secure digital (SD) cards, DVD disks, digital video tape, andthe like. Computer-readable storage media 1222 may also include,solid-state drives (SSD) based on non-volatile memory such asflash-memory based SSDs, enterprise flash drives, solid state ROM, andthe like, SSDs based on volatile memory such as solid state RAM, dynamicRAM, static RAM, DRAM-based SSDs, magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) SSDs, andhybrid SSDs that use a combination of DRAM and flash memory based SSDs.The disk drives and their associated computer-readable media may providenon-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data for computer system 1200.

Communications subsystem 1224 provides an interface to other computersystems and networks. Communications subsystem 1224 serves as aninterface for receiving data from and transmitting data to other systemsfrom computer system 1200. For example, communications subsystem 1224may enable computer system 1200 to connect to one or more devices viathe Internet. In some embodiments communications subsystem 1224 caninclude radio frequency (RF) transceiver components for accessingwireless voice and/or data networks (e.g., using cellular telephonetechnology, advanced data network technology, such as 3G, 4G or EDGE(enhanced data rates for global evolution), WiFi (IEEE 802.11 familystandards, or other mobile communication technologies, or anycombination thereof), global positioning system (GPS) receivercomponents, and/or other components. In some embodiments communicationssubsystem 1224 can provide wired network connectivity (e.g., Ethernet)in addition to or instead of a wireless interface.

In some embodiments, communications subsystem 1224 may also receiveinput communication in the form of structured and/or unstructured datafeeds 1226, event streams 1228, event updates 1230, and the like onbehalf of one or more users who may use computer system 1200.

By way of example, communications subsystem 1224 may be configured toreceive data feeds 1226 in real-time from users of social networksand/or other communication services such as Twitter® feeds, Facebook®updates, web feeds such as Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds, and/orreal-time updates from one or more third party information sources.

Additionally, communications subsystem 1224 may also be configured toreceive data in the form of continuous data streams, which may includeevent streams 1228 of real-time events and/or event updates 1230, thatmay be continuous or unbounded in nature with no explicit end. Examplesof applications that generate continuous data may include, for example,sensor data applications, financial tickers, network performancemeasuring tools (e.g. network monitoring and traffic managementapplications), clickstream analysis tools, automobile trafficmonitoring, and the like.

Communications subsystem 1224 may also be configured to output thestructured and/or unstructured data feeds 1226, event streams 1228,event updates 1230, and the like to one or more databases that may be incommunication with one or more streaming data source computers coupledto computer system 1200.

Computer system 1200 can be one of various types, including a handheldportable device (e.g., an iPhone® cellular phone, an iPad® computingtablet, a PDA), a wearable device (e.g., a Google Glass® head mounteddisplay), a PC, a workstation, a mainframe, a kiosk, a server rack, orany other data processing system.

Due to the ever-changing nature of computers and networks, thedescription of computer system 1200 depicted in the figure is intendedonly as a specific example. Many other configurations having more orfewer components than the system depicted in the figure are possible.For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, firmware, software (includingapplets), or a combination. Further, connection to other computingdevices, such as network input/output devices, may be employed. Based onthe disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skillin the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement thevarious embodiments.

Although specific embodiments have been described, variousmodifications, alterations, alternative constructions, and equivalentsare also encompassed within the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments arenot restricted to operation within certain specific data processingenvironments, but are free to operate within a plurality of dataprocessing environments. Additionally, although embodiments have beendescribed using a particular series of transactions and steps, it shouldbe apparent to those skilled in the art that the scope of the claims isnot limited to the described series of transactions and steps. Variousfeatures and aspects of the above-described embodiments may be usedindividually or jointly.

Further, while embodiments have been described using a particularcombination of hardware and software, it should be recognized that othercombinations of hardware and software are also within the scope of thedisclosed embodiments. Embodiments may be implemented only in hardware,or only in software, or using combinations thereof. The variousprocesses described herein can be implemented on the same processor ordifferent processors in any combination. Accordingly, where componentsor modules are described as being configured to perform certainoperations, such configuration can be accomplished, e.g., by designingelectronic circuits to perform the operation, by programmingprogrammable electronic circuits (such as microprocessors) to performthe operation, or any combination thereof. Processes can communicateusing a variety of techniques including but not limited to conventionaltechniques for inter process communication, and different pairs ofprocesses may use different techniques, or the same pair of processesmay use different techniques at different times.

The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, beevident that additions, subtractions, deletions, and other modificationsand changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broaderspirit and scope as set forth in the claims. Thus, although specificembodiments have been described, these are not intended to be limiting.Various modifications and equivalents are within the scope of theclaimed embodiments.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in thecontext of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in thecontext of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both thesingular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearlycontradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,”and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning“including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. The term“connected” is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within,attached to, or joined together, even if there is something intervening.Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as ashorthand method of referring individually to each separate valuefalling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and eachseparate value is incorporated into the specification as if it wereindividually recited herein. All methods described herein can beperformed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein orotherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and allexamples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, isintended merely to better illuminate certain embodiments and does notpose a limitation on the scope of the disclosed techniques. No languagein the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimedelement as essential to the practice of the claimed embodiments.

Disjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, or Z,”unless specifically stated otherwise, is intended to be understoodwithin the context as used in general to present that an item, term,etc., may be either X, Y, or Z, or any combination thereof (e.g., X, Y,and/or Z). Thus, such disjunctive language is not generally intended to,and should not, imply that certain embodiments require at least one ofX, at least one of Y, or at least one of Z to each be present.

Preferred embodiments are described herein, including the best modeknown for carrying out the various embodiments. Variations of thosepreferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe art upon reading the foregoing description. Those of ordinary skillshould be able to employ such variations as appropriate and thedescribed embodiments may be practiced otherwise than as specificallydescribed herein. Accordingly, this disclosure includes allmodifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in theclaims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, anycombination of the above-described elements in all possible variationsthereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless otherwise indicatedherein.

All references, including publications, patent applications, andpatents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the sameextent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicatedto be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entiretyherein.

In the foregoing specification, novel aspects are described withreference to specific embodiments thereof, but those skilled in the artwill recognize that the disclosure is not limited thereto. Variousfeatures and aspects of the above-described embodiments may be usedindividually or jointly. Further, embodiments can be utilized in anynumber of environments and applications beyond those described hereinwithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of thespecification. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by aconfiguration helper system a request to generate configurationinformation for a customer premise equipment to enable establishment ofa communication channel between an on-premise network of the customerpremise equipment and a network hosted by infrastructure provided by acloud services provider; identifying, from the request, identificationinformation for the customer premise equipment and a type of thecommunication channel; determining a set of parameters to include in theconfiguration information of the customer premise equipment based on theidentification information for the customer premise equipment and thetype of the communication channel identified in the request and based onthe request; searching, based on the combination of the identificationinformation of the customer premise equipment and the type of thecommunication channel identified in the request, parameters to beincluded in the configuration information for the combination of theidentification information of the customer premise equipment and thetype of the communication channel; determining customer preferencevalues for the parameters based on previously configured parametersstored on the configuration helper system; and generating, automaticallyby the configuration helper system, a configuration file including theconfiguration information for the customer premise equipment based atleast in part on the determined customer preference values.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the request is received by theconfiguration helper system from a console system.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 2, wherein the identification information of thecustomer premise equipment and the type of the communication channel arein an encrypted filed created by the console system.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the determining the set of parameters toinclude in the configuration information of the customer premiseequipment comprises identifying, based on the type of the communicationchannel, activation data values and set up data values for thecommunication channel.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein thedetermining the set of parameters to include in the configurationinformation of the customer premise equipment comprises retrieving,based on the identification information of the customer premiseequipment, from a persistent data store, the configuration informationfor the customer premise equipment.
 6. The method according to claim 1,wherein the set of parameters comprise a combination of a vendorparameter, a platform parameter, a version parameter and a channel typeparameter for the customer premise equipment.
 7. The method according toclaim 1, determining, from the set of parameters, a subset of parameterscomprising data values provided by a user.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the subset of parameters are configured by the user at a vendorlevel, a platform level, or a version level.
 9. The method according toclaim 7, wherein the subset of parameters comprising data valuesprovided by the user include an IP address and encryption keys.
 10. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the previously configuredparameters are stored at a vendor level, a platform level, or a versionlevel.
 11. A system comprising: a processor; and a memory includinginstructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform a method comprising: receive, by a configurationhelper system a request to generate configuration information for acustomer premise equipment to enable establishment of a communicationchannel between an on-premise network of the customer premise equipmentand a network hosted by infrastructure provided by a cloud servicesprovider; identify, from the request, identification information for thecustomer premise equipment and a type of the communication channel;determine a set of parameters to include in the configurationinformation of the customer premise equipment based on theidentification information for the customer premise equipment and thetype of the communication channel identified in the request and based onthe request; search, based on the combination of the identificationinformation of the customer premise equipment and the type of thecommunication channel identified in the request, parameters to beincluded in the configuration information for the combination of theidentification information of the customer premise equipment and thetype of the communication channel; determine customer preference valuesfor the parameters based on previously configured parameters stored onthe configuration helper system; and generate, automatically by theconfiguration helper system, a configuration file including theconfiguration information for the customer premise equipment based atleast in part on the determined customer preference values.
 12. Thesystem according to claim 11, wherein the request is received by theconfiguration helper system from a console system.
 13. The systemaccording to claim 12, wherein the identification information of thecustomer premise equipment and the type of the communication channel arein an encrypted filed created by the console system.
 14. The systemaccording to claim 11, wherein the determining the set of parameters toinclude in the configuration information of the customer premiseequipment comprises identifying, based on the type of the communicationchannel, activation data values and set up data values for thecommunication channel.
 15. The system according to claim 11, wherein thedetermining the set of parameters to include in the configurationinformation of the customer premise equipment comprises retrieving,based on the identification information of the customer premiseequipment, from a persistent data store, the configuration informationfor the customer premise equipment.
 16. The system according to claim11, wherein the set of parameters comprise a combination of a vendorparameter, a platform parameter, a version parameter and a channel typeparameter for the customer premise equipment.
 17. The system accordingto claim 11, determining, from the set of parameters, a subset ofparameters comprising data values provided by a user.
 18. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the subset of parameters are configured by the user ata vendor level, a platform level, or a version level.
 19. The systemaccording to claim 17, wherein the subset of parameters comprising datavalues provided by the user include an IP address and encryption keys.20. A method comprising: receiving, by a configuration helper system(CHS), a request to generate configuration information for a customerpremise equipment (CPE) to enable establishment of a communicationchannel between an on-premise network of the CPE and a network hosted byinfrastructure provided by a cloud services provider, wherein theon-premise network comprises a plurality of CPEs comprising the CPE,wherein the communication channel is configured for at least one of aplurality of different communication protocols, wherein a plurality ofcommunication channels are established between the on-premise networkand the network hosted by the infrastructure provided by the cloudservices provider, wherein the plurality of different communicationprotocols established between the on-premise network of the CPE and theinfrastructure provided by the cloud services provider comprises atleast one of virtual private network (VPN) or peering; responsive to therequest, searching, by the configuration helper system, a data store fora set of parameters to be included in the configuration information tobe generated for the CPE, wherein the set of parameters to be includedin the configuration information is based at least in part on one ormore characteristics of the communication channel being established, andwherein the set of parameters to be included in the configurationinformation is based at least in part on one or more characteristics ofthe infrastructure provided by the cloud services provider; identifying,by the configuration helper system, from the data store and based uponinformation included in the request identifying the CPE, the set ofparameters to be included in the configuration information to begenerated for the CPE; determining, by the configuration helper system,a set of values for the set of parameters; and generating, automaticallyby the configuration helper system, a configuration file including theconfiguration information for the CPE in a format specific to the CPE.